


Trust me

by xPusheenx



Category: Pearl Jam
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-03-24 18:28:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 34,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13816947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xPusheenx/pseuds/xPusheenx
Summary: Tibby leads a destructive life. When she finds family, everything changes.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I just tried a Mike fanfic, ended up really liking it. Hope you do too.

Tibby’s POV:

It had been years since the last time I had seen my brother. I didn’t know where he was or what he was doing. I thought about him all the time. He’d probably forgotten all about me. I got what I deserved. I had treated him like shit the last time we spoke. It all started to come back to me. Everytime that memory tried to pierce its way into my brain, I’d find something to distract myself from remembering. But this time it didn’t work. I had nothing else to do but remembering.

Years ago:  
Being more or less homeless, without any family, I had a desperate need to find something or someone to hold on to. Despite my young age I had sex. I slept with several men on a daily basis. I didn’t enjoy it, but also, I didn’t hate it. It gave me money. And usually a place to take a shower. It also gave me a brief moment of another human’s touch.

One day, after I’d been with a client, I discovered an ad for an agency. They stated that they were experts in finding missing children, missing family members and even missing pets. I had nothing to lose, so I contacted them. They promised that if I had family out there, they would find them. Months went by, and living my life like I was used to, I almost forgot about the whole thing. Mrs. Johnson, the lady I was staying with at the time, came into my room telling me there was a phone call for me. Apparently my father, before he died, had a kid with a lady, a boy. This was years and years ago, and I didn’t make any sense of it. My ”father” died before I was even born. The guy on the phone told me that while he was alive, he’d been ”donating” his swimmers somewhere. And a lady, my mother, had been to a sperm bank, gotten his swimmers, and I was created.

My head was spinning. I had a brother, who was a grown up. I was 14, a product of a failed attempt for someone to have a child. I was given up once I started acting up. My mother was no where to be found, my father was dead. The only shot I had at having a family was my brother. Who didn’t know I existed. I asked the agency man for the name of my brother. If I wasn’t dizzy before, I sure as hell was now. Eddie Vedder.

I don’t remember much of my first meeting with him. I remember him trying to make sense of it all. He even cried. If it was out of anger, confusion, happiness or sadness I had no idea. When he heard about my living situation he immediately said I could live with him and some of his friends.

Fast forward a couple of months, his friends, well, his band, seemed alright. I was so used to getting burned, I didn’t let anyone get to close. Eddie tried his best, he sure as hell did, but I was impossible to deal with at the time. This was not what I’d expected when I was looking for family. At first it was kind of overwhelming having Eddie as my brother. He was famous, everyone knew who he was, everyone knew who his band mates were. The few times we were out of the house together, people would just stare or come over to talk to him. It was annoying, so I stopped going places with him.

After a while he started to decide stuff for me. Who I could hang out with, when to do my homework or when to go to bed. Who the hell did he think he was? No one had ever told me what to do before, and now, here he was. We fought a lot. I used to threaten him when I got angry enough. I used to tell him that I’d move out and never come back. But we both knew that wasn’t gonna happen. One night, after one of our usual fights, he stormed out. I was so angry I was crying. I sat by the kitchen table trying to collect myself when Stone sat down beside me. ”What do you want?” I asked. He didn’t say anything, he just sat there, looking at me. He took a sip from his coffee mug before he spoke. ”Do you know how long I’ve known your brother” he asked. ”No?” I shrugged. ”Almost five years now”. He didn’t say anything else. ”So?” I asked, annoyed. ”How long have you known him?” Stone asked me. ”I dunno… About a year? Why does that matter? You win, I lose” I said. ”Don’t you see, it’s not about winning or losing. It’s about him caring about you. I’ve known him since you were a kid. You’ve known him since last fall. I’ve never seen him this involved in anyone before. Not even when he has a girlfriend. He loves you and he wants what’s best for you. But you gotta let him in. He didn’t ask for any of this, but when you showed up he didn’t hesitate for one minute to let you come here. I know he’s a bit… Difficult at times… It took me years to understand him myself, but he’s trying here, Tibby. Cut him some slack” he said before he took another sip from his mug. Damn it, he was right. We heard the door open downstairs. Eddie was back. ”Good luck” Stone said and went to his room.

Eddie looked at me when he came up the stairs. ”Hey” he said. He came over to the kitchen table and sat down besides me. ”Hey” I said quietly, not really looking at him. ”I’m sorry I ran out before” he said. I shrugged, I didn’t care. At least, that’s what I conviced myself to believe. The door bell rang, and I jumped up from my chair. ”I’m going out for a while” I said. ”Wait, what?” Eddie stood up trying to stop me. ”Get away from me” I said. I was annoyed and started to get angry. The bell rang again, and Mike came out from his room. ”Oh, hey, I didn’t think anyone was here” he said confused. ”Why aren’t we answering the door?” he asked. Eddie just looked at me. ”No way you’re going out now, it’s a school night”. ”Why the hell do you care??!” I started shouting. ”Because you’re my responsebility, and you need to go to school tomorrow! Mike, help me out here, will you?” But Mike was already by the door. ”Tibby here?” we heard a voice say. ”Yeah, but she’s not going anywhere with you” I heard Mike answer. ”What the hell? Mike, shut up!” I yelled. I yanked my arm away from Eddie and hurried over. One of my previous ”clients” had come to see me, and I wanted to leave with him. He’d promised me a house, and I wanted to get the fuck out of this mess. He was a bit older than me, but whatever. ”No. You’re not leaving with him” Eddie said. ”Yes, I am!” I said while grabbing my jacket. By now, Stone was out of his room, curious to what was going on. ”Sorry dude, you’re not going anywhere with her” Mike said and shut the door. ”Who the hell do you think you are?” I yelled at him. ”Tibby! Shut the fuck up!” Eddie said. He was pissed. ”Good luck, man” Mike said as he tried to leave. ”You’re not going with someone like that, Tibby” Eddie said. ”Why?” I asked. ”First of all, he’s fucking my age. He’s way too old for you. And by the looks of him, he’s kind of sketchy” Eddie said. ”Dude, not a good move” I heard Mike say. ”Why? Because, to me he looks like all of you in here. Are you sketchy as well?” I asked. My client, Ben, had long hair, wore torn jeans and flannels. What I failed to see at the time was that he was a junkie. Eddie saw it, Mike saw it and Stone saw it. But I didn’t.

I was awful towards all three of them that night, yet all they did was trying to talk some sense into me. Oh how I wish I’d listened to them. Now it was too late.


	2. Chapter 2

Present:

I ran, I needed to get away from it all. From all the lies, all the yelling, the rapings and the beatings. I had no where to go. I just ran. Suddenly I found myself in Eddie’s old neighbourhood. I hadn’t seen him in over 5 or 6 years, so I didn’t know if he even lived there anymore. But it was my only shot. The door was locked, so I rang the bell. I was so upset, so when no one came and immediately opened the door I broke down. I was curled up in a ball crying outside the appartment.

”Excuse me?” a voice said. I looked up. A familiar face, although older than what I remembered it to be, looked at me. ”Wait, Tibby? Oh my god, Tibby, is that you?” Stone came running up to me and unlocked the door. ”Let’s get you inside” he said as he helped me inside the house. ”Mike! A little help please!” Stone shouted. ”What’s going on?” Mike said. As soon as he saw me he came rushing over. I was a complete mess. When Stone closed the door, I broke down again. I just fell apart right there in his arms. ”You need help?” Mike asked. ”Call Eddie” Stone said. ”No, don’t call him” I sobbed. ”He hates me, I can’t deal with that right now” I said as I felt my chest aching. ”Oh no, honey. He doesn’t hate you, not even a little bit” Mike said. ”Please don’t call him” I begged. ”You know we have to” Stone said, looking at me. ”Why don’t you go take a long hot shower and we’ll call him when you’re done?” Mike said. I nodded, but I couldn’t move. My whole body was sore, I was exhausted and Stone’s arms felt good wrapped around me. ”Come on” Mike said with a friendly voice and grabbed my hand.

He took me to my old bathroom and turned on the shower for me. ”There, all set, he said and was about to leave. ”Please don’t leave me alone” I whispered. He looked confused. Whenever I took a shower at Ben’s place it was because he’d found someone for me to fuck so that he could get money to buy drugs. I hated taking showers, it always led to something bad. ”Please” I whispered again. ”Ahm, okay… I ahm… ” He was uncomfortable, but somehow he managed to ignore it and he stayed. He only went to get his book, and he probably told Stone that I’d asked him to stay.

After a while Stone came knocking on the door asking if we wanted food. Mike handed me a towel, and he tried his best not to look at anything. As he got out of the bathroom and I got dressed I started to feel dizzy. It was days since the last time I ate, and I hadn’t felt full in months. My body was done. I woke up on the bathroom floor with Mike over me. He yelled and tried to make me wake up, and Stone was right outside talking on the phone. ”Can you sit up for me, please?” a kind voice asked me. I turned my head and saw a girl. Confused as I was, I did what I was told. ”Good” she said, smiling. ”Okay, everyone out” she told the guys and she shut the door. ”What happened?” I asked. ”You passed out. You’ve been gone on and off for about 20 minutes according to Mike. Let me just check your pulse” she said and grabbed my wrist gently. I looked at her trying to figure out who she was and why she was in my bathroom. ”Who are you?” I asked. She gave me a little laugh and a friendly smile. ”I’m Lydia, Jeff’s girlfriend. The guys called me when you blacked out in here. I’m a nurse” she explained as she checked everything she could with the small amount of equiptment she had with her. ”Looks like your fine, but I’ve scheduled a doctor’s appointment for you later tonight”. As she walked out to let me get dressed I felt somewhat safe, for the first time in years I was surrounded by people who truly cared.

As I was about to pull up my jeans I heard people talking and the door flew up. ”Oh my god, get the hell out. I’m getting dressed!” I yelled as I saw Eddie standing there. _”So, what else is new?”_ I heard someone laugh. Eddie didn’t care if I was almost half naked, he just wrapped his arms around me and held me. We stayed likt that for ages. I had missed him so much, and I was so scared of seeing him again after all these years. I was scared he was gonna be pissed, but he wasn’t at all. ”Guys, the food is getting cold” Stone said impatiently from the other side of the door. ”Wanna go eat?” Eddie asked. I nodded. He let me finish. I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked like a ghost, a shadow, but because of just one simple shower I felt better than I had been for ages. I brushed my long dark hair and braided it. Walking towards the living room I started to grow anxious. There was so much I wanted to tell Eddie, but I didn’t know how to tell him anything. All that anxiousness quickly disappeard once I saw everyone. They where sitting on the couch laughing and joking. They made it seem so easy. Jeff saw me and he got up and gave me a hug. ”Good to see you, kiddo” he said before he sat back down and put his arm around Lydia. ”How are you feeling?” Lydia asked. I shrugged, I honestly didn’t know.

”You should grab some food before Stone eats it all” Mike said. ”Shut up, I’m hungry” Stone said. Eddie let me sit next to him and handed me a slice of pizza. ”Your doctor’s appointment is at 7:30” Lydia said. ”What kind of doctor works that late?” Jeff asked. ”The kinds who wants to do me a favor” she said. ”I’m heading to work at around 7, I can give you a lift if you want?” she told me. ”I have to go alone?” I said as I started to panick. ”I’ll go with you” Eddie said. But I didn’t want him there. ”I’ll try to go with you, no worries” Lydia said, thank god. ”My god, do you have taperworms or something?” Mike laughed as Stone grabbed yet another slice. ”Where does he put all that food?” I laughed. Stone was tall and skinny, it looked like he didn’t eat more than what was necessary. ”He probably sweats it all out when he’s at his boyfriend’s house” Jeff teased. ”He’s not my boyfriend” Stone chewed. ”And look who’s talking” he added. ”Oh my god, shut up” Lydia laughed, slightly embarrassed. ”Stone caught them the other day” Eddie laughed. ”Oh, no!” I laughed. ”Did you get to see anything good?” I added. ”Tibby!” Eddie laughed, surprised at my comment. Mike almost choked on is pop. ”Nope, they stopped when I walked in” Stone said. ”Bummer”. He just laughed and nodded. ”What would you have done if someone walked in on you?” Jeff asked Stone. ”Kept going” he said. ”So when are you seeing your boyfriend again?” Jeff asked. ”Again, not my boyfriend. And I’m going over there.. Well, now actually” he said and got up. ”Happy humping” I said as he opened the door. ”Thank you!” he shouted.

”Happy humping?” Eddie laughed. ”Well, yeah? Why not?” I asked. ”Jesus, you’ve always been a weird one” he laughed. Lydia got a phone call from work, they needed her. I started to panick again. Did this mean she couldn’t make it to my appointment? Both Lydia and Jeff left, and it was just Eddie, Mike and I left. ”How are you feeling?” Mike asked me. ”I dunno. Tired. Scared.” Eddie looked at me. ”What are you scared about?” he asked. ”About him finding me here. I just… God, if I’d only listed to you in the first place” I felt a big lump in my throat and suddenly tears started to pour out. Eddie put his arm around me. ”I’m so sorry” I whispered. ”It’s okay, you’re here now. You wanna pack up and go back to my place?” Eddie asked me. ”Your place? You don’t live here anymore?” He shook his head. ”No, I moved out a couple of years ago. Mike and Stone are the only ones left here” I realised I'd missed out on so much since I’d been gone. ”You don’t have to leave tonight though” Mike said. ”You can stay here as long as you want, it’s no problem, honestly. And I might look small, but if that motherfucker shows up here, I’ll kock him right out”. I couldn’t help but laugh. Mike was small. But I believed him when he said I was safe there. ”Are you sure?” Eddie asked him. ”Yep, it’s really okay. Besides, I could use some company now that Stone has a boyfriend”. Eddie went to the bathroom, and Mike started cleaning up. ”You need help?” I asked. ”No, no. It’s fine” he smiled. I watched him as he walked around cleaning up our mess. I hadn’t really paid much attention to him in the past, he was just.. Mike. He wasn’t very outspoken, and he just wanted everyone to get along. He didn’t make a big deal about himself, and he was content just being there. ”Hey, Mike?” I asked. ”Huh?” He stopped what he was doing and looked at me. ”Can I ask you something?” He sat down beside me. ”Sure. What’s up?” I took a deep breath. ”This might sound weird… But, since Lydia has to work, could you go with me to the docor’s?” He needed a minute to process what I was asking. ”Ahm, sure… If you want me to. But, wouldn’t it be better to take your brother?” Shit, he didn’t want to. ”No… I don’t want him being there” I whispered. I almost started to cry again. ”Hey, don’t cry. I’m not good with crying…” he said. ”If you really want me to, I’ll go with you” I looked at him. ”Really?” He smiled and nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

Mike’s POV:  
Going with Tibby to the docor’s was hella scary. The last time I’d seen her was the night she ran away. Back then I thought of her as Ed’s slightly bratty younger sister. She was really impossible at times, she was stubborn and demanding. But who could blame her? That’s how she’d managed to survive, so suddenly having and older brother must’ve been quite the adjustment for her. Me and Stone tried to stay out of their business as much as we could, but at the same time Eddie appreciated our help. 

When I saw her totally broken down in Stone’s arms earlier I just wanted to find that piece of crap who did this to her and beat the hell out of him. She was destroyed, she was a mess. And she looked so little and helpless. She’d asked me to stay with her when she went to take a shower. At first all my instincts told me to get the hell out of there, but as she looked at me with her big sad eyes, I could see how scared she must’ve been.   
When she told Eddie that I was going with her to the doctor I was sure he was gonna punch me, but instead he thanked me and gave me a hug. This had to be so hard for him as well. He’d been moody and cranky ever since Tibby ran away, and at times I even considered just leaving the band. It was alot to take, for all of us.

We didn’t speak much in the car on our way home. She just looked through the window, lost in her thoughts. I looked at her. Even though she was tired and looked like she’d been starving for 10 years, she looked beautiful. She didn’t look like a kid anymore, she looked like a young woman. I know I wasn’t suppose to look, but when she was in the shower, I could see the contour of her body through the shower curtain. Thank god I had my book with me to distract myself.

”Thank you” she said, pulling me back to reality. I looked at her. ”For what?” She sighed. ”For going with me to the docor’s, and for letting me stay at your place. For staying with me when I took a shower, for waking me up when I passed out. Thank you for everything”. All I could do was smile. I didn’t know what to say. 

As we walked from the car to the house she looked anxiously around, as if she was looking for someone. And at what better time could I have lost my house key? ”Shit” I whispered as I searched for it in all of my pockets. She didn’t say anything, but I could tell she was scared being out here. ”Mike…” she said, drawing my attention towards a shadow behind a car. ”Oh, thank god. It’s Stone” I exhaled. ”Hey guys!” he said to us, smiling. But Tibby didn’t appreciate it. She was scared shitless. As soon as Stone unlocked the door, she ran inside and locked herself in her old room. ”What’s going on?” Stone asked. I told him about our visit to the doctor. I didn’t go into great detail, but Stone got the picture.

Tibby’s POV:  
I had to tell the doctor about the rapes and the beatings. You would think it’d be uncomfortable with Mike sitting there, but for me it felt less scary having him there. If Eddie had gone with me I’d probably choke. 

I was laying on my bed, thoughts just rushing through my head. It felt like my brain was about to explode, everything felt sore but numb. What if it had been Ben out there, what if he was out there waiting for me? What if he hurt me? Or worse, what if he hurt Mike. Oh my god, Mike. He was so stressed out when he realised his keys were missing. He’d been so great that night. He went with me to the doctor knowing it might get really uncomfortable, and he just gently caressed my back as I cried trying to get out all the words. He didn’t ask me about it on our way home, he was just being a good friend. After a while I was sound asleep.

I woke up to a loud thump. I shot up, and I sat there just listening. As I heard laughing, I realised Stone probably had is boyfriend over. And lucky me, I shared a wall with him. I couldn’t sleep through all the noises, so I got up. The living room was dark and cold, and it seemed bigger somehow. I didn’t want to stay out here by myself. I walked through the hallway, and passing Mike’s room, I heard him playing the guitar. Carefully I opened the door. He stopped playing when he noticed me standing there. ”Oh, hey Tibby” he said, a bit surprised. ”Sorry, I couldn’t sleep. Stone’s not alone” I sighed. ”Oh no, poor thing” he laughed. ”You wanna hang out in here?” he asked and put his guitar down. ”Is that okay?” He looked at me, smiling a little. ”I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t”

As we both sat down on his bed I started to get this weird feeling. I felt a bit warm, and it felt like a thousand butterflies was trapped inside my stomach. It felt good, but also a bit stressful. ”What do you wanna do?” he asked me. ”What were you playing before?” I asked. ”Just something I threw together” he said, picking up the guitar again. He started playing, and I got lost in the sweet sound of it. I rested my head on his shoulder and just watched him play. I could stay like that forever.


	4. Chapter 4

Mikes POV:  
Woa, what’s going on? She’s here, in my room. On my bed. And now she’s cuddled up next to me. What do I do, what do I do? Eddie would kill me if he knew. At the same time, I liked it. I was used to seeing all the other guys get so much attention from girls. I didn’t really care that much, I just wanted to play music. I didn’t exactly have any problems with finding someone to sleep with from time to time, but it’d been ages since the last time I had a girlfriend. 

I started imagining what it would be like if Tibby was my girlfriend. Stupid, right? ”That was really good” she said. ”You think so?” I smiled weakly and put my guitar back on the floor. ”Yeah, you’re really good” she smiled. She didn’t move, she just got even more comfortable putting her arms around my waist. I put my arm around her, mostly to be a bit more comfortable myself. But it felt nice holding her. Her hair smelled like shampoo. All of a sudden she pulled me down to her and started kissing me! Okay, NOW what the fuck do I do? I knew I should stop her, but she was a really good kisser. And I liked kissing her. So that’s what I did, I kissed her back. Her lip balm tasted like raspberries, yet her tongue tasted like mint. No, I can’t do this. I need to talk to Eddie first. ”Tibby… We can’t” I said as I stopped her. ”What? Why?” she asked. She seemed upset. Angry at first, but mosty sad. And now she was embarrassed. ”I’m sorry, I have to talk to your brother before we… ” I cut myself off. ”Damn it. You’re just like the rest of them!” she said. She was hurt. Because of me. It killed me. She stormed out, and I ran after her. Just as she was about to slam the door to her room in my face, Stone’s bedroom door opened. Stone froze as he saw us. ”What’s up?” a voice laughed, and it wasn’t Stone’s boyfriend’s voice.

Tibby’s POV  
As if I didn’t have enough on my mind. ”Eddie?!” both me and Mike said as we saw him standing behind Stone.


	5. Chapter 5

Eddie’s POV  
Fuck… We’re so busted.

Stone’s POV  
Well, this suddenly took an interesting turn. Crap…

Mike’s POV  
I can’t believe this. How long has this been going on? And here I was, worried about me and Tibby, while Eddie’s been fucking my best friend. This was just awkward, I just stood there, staring at them. And they were staring back at me and Tibby. Wait, Tibby wasn’t standing in front of me anymore.

Tibby’s POV  
My god… I got up on my bed, my head was totally spinning again. Obviously I was starting to crush on Mike, I kissed him, but he stopped me. Because of Eddie. But Eddie on the other hand was screwing Stone behind everyone elses back.

I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. I just couldn’t deal right now. 

Eddie’s POV  
I watched Stone as he was lying next to me, sleeping. How could he sleep? We’d just been so busted by Tibby and Mike. Tibby just ran into her room, and Mike looked confused and surprised. Who could blame them? Stone had told everyone that he had a boyfriend, no, a fuck friend, to distract everyone from thinking it was me the whole time. 

When he went to see his boyfriend earlier today, he’d actually been waiting for me at my place. When I walked into my bedroom and saw his fine ass on my bed… Wow… The way he smiled at me, the way his eyes sparkled at me, the way his… No, I was distracting myself here. Tibby and Mike, that’s what I was suppose to figure out about now. They busted us, what are we gonna do? Wait a minute. Why was Tibby in Mike’s room this late? I know he went with her to the doctor, but I thought that was the extent of it. 

 

Mike’s POV  
I’m so fucking stupid. I was worried about Eddie, so I stopped Tibby when we were kissing. We were kissing here, in my bed. It had felt so good, her soft lips pressed against mine. She was so upset when she ran out, she’s never gonna kiss me again. I messed up. I started to really feel a connection with her, but because of my good-friends-never-kiss-each-other’s-sisters-crap I really ruined everything. 

She might not even think of me that way. Maybe she just wanted to hook up with someone. That was probably it. It’s like it’s always been. Mike’s the good friend. I am, I really am. I’m good friend material, not boyfriend material. Geez… I remember a girl from way back. We were on the road, we weren’t as big as we are now, so we had the opportunity to migle with people when we played at festivals and stuff. This girl seemed really into me, she wanted to talk to me, she confided in me. We were dancing and drinking, just having fun. Suddenly she pulled me close and I thought she was about to kiss me, but instead she asked me if I could introduce her to Dave, our drummer at the time. She called me a good friend right before she left with him. This is the same thing, for sure. I know it is. I’m not stunningly handsome like Eddie, I’m not pretty like Stone or a hottie like Jeff. Why would she want me in any other way than a one night stand-ish kind of thing? I should just shake it off, it’s not gonna happen.


	6. Chapter 6

Stone’s POV  
That was a good nights sleep. Why is Eddie looking all grumpy? ”Did I upset you in some way?” I asked. He looked at me with is gorgeous blue eyes. He wasn’t grumpy. I could easily tell now that he was looking directly at me. He was worried about something. ”No, you didn’t” he said. ”I’m just worried about Tibby. She wasn’t suppose to see us last night”. No, she wasn’t. There was a reason why we’d kept it a secret for so long. We didn’t want anything to mess with our band and how well we were doing, and now that Tibby was back, we didn’t want to upset her. I just looked at him. I looked at the man that I had looked at so many times before. His brown hair, his blue eyes. His cheek bones. His perfect little nose and his full lips. ”Why are you looking at me like that?” he laughed. ”I’m sorry. I can’t help it. You’re so beautiful” I said. I ment every word. I could see him blush just a little bit. He scootched over to me and put his arms around me. ”You know I love you, right?” I suddenly blurted out. He looked at me, confused, surprised, happy and in disbelief. All at the same time. ”I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have…” I said, slightly panicking. ”It’s okay. I know. And I do too. We just… We haven’t told each other that yet”. ”No… Well, now I have.” He looked at me and pulled me down to kiss me. Right before our lips met he whispered ”I love you too, Stone.” 

 

Tibby’s POV  
Oh man, I really don’t wanna get up today. It’s gonna be sooo awkward with Mike. I can’t believe I kissed him last night. Just like that. I’m not even sure he likes me that way. He might just feel sorry for me.

I’ve never been in love before. 

 

Mike’s POV  
Okay, time to face the awkward. Here we go. I’m walking into the living room. Where no one is. Wow, what time is it? 11:30? And everyone’s asleep? Might as well make myself some breakfast and go back to bed.

As I stood in the kitchen making myself something to eat, Stone’s bedroom door opened. Both Eddie and Stone came out and joined me in the kitchen. I just looked at them. I couldn’t talk, I just didn’t know what to say. I felt betrayed in a way. Stone was my best friend, I’d known him since the 7th grade. I really thought I ment more to him than this. I started to grow annoyed and just wanted to get the hell out of there before either of them spoke. 

Eddie’s POV  
Mike’s pissed off, man… Great. 

 

Stone’s POV  
I know Mike really well, we go way back. He’s upset, probably because I kept this from him. I can’t blame him, but I honestly thought he’d be happy for me, for us. 

Good, he’s leaving now. I can breathe again. Poor Eddie, he looks a mess. 

I put my arms around is waist and kissed his shoulder. He was making us breakfast, completely lost in his own thoughts. It was like he didn’t even notice me standing pressed up against his back. ”Hey, Ed. Talk to me. Please.” He turned to face me. ”I need to talk to Mike. And I need to talk to Tibby. And then, I need to talk to Jeff. He’s my best friend, and I’ve kept this from him.” He was right. ”What if we sit all of them down and talk to them? Together?” He seemed more relaxed in a way. He smiled and nodded. ”Good. Let’s have breakfast in bed first?”

 

Tibby’s POV  
I can’t stand this. I have to talk to Mike. If not about us, I need to talk to him about Eddie and Stone. Yes, Eddie and Stone. That’s a good excuse to talk to him, right? 

I threw on some clothes and walked towards his room. His door was slightly open. I couldn’t help but spy on him. He was sitting on top of his duvet reading a book while he had breakfast. His long brown hair was shiny and laid softly around his shoulders. He was skinny and small, but somehow he looked like someone who could really take care of me. 

I knocked on his door and peeked inside. His eyes met mine. ”Oh, hey Tibby” he said, kinda surprised. ”Hey, Mike… Look… I need to talk to you.” My chest was pounding. He closed his book at told me to come on in. He made room for me on the bed. ”Waffle?” he asked me. ”Thanks” I smiled weakly and took one off of his plate. ”What’s up?” he asked. ”Ahm, I was just thinking about last night. You know…” He looked at me, as if he was trying to read my mind. ”About Eddie and Stone…” I added. ”Oh…” He seemed a little disappointed. ”I just thought you might… Never mind… Eddie and Stone… What a shock” he said. I could tell he was a bit uncomfortable with the whole thing. ”How are you feeling?” he asked me. ”I dunno how I feel. I never knew he was into guys at all.” Mike nodded, agreeing. ”Me neither. I knew Stone was, but he made this whole story of him having a fuck friend. And this whole time it was Eddie. Gosh… Stone is my best friend, I really thought he would tell me about this. This is huge, and it affects our whole band” I could tell he was upset. ”But, Mike… What if that’s the reason he didn’t tell you? It affects the whole band, but maybe he wants to keep those two things apart from each other. Maybe he wanted to be absolutely sure before he told you?” He got lost in his thoughts for a brief moment. ”I dunno. If it was suppose to be a secret, why the hell did they do it yesterday. You and me were both here. And you sleep in the next room.” 

Mike’s POV  
Shit, I was hoping she’d come by to talk about us. But I do understand she needed to talk about Eddie. And Stone. Eddie and Stone. Weird. 

I just sat there. Looking at her. Her long hair, her eyes. Her eyes were brown, yet they looked exactly like Ed’s in some way. I studied the way her lips moved when she talked, the way her body was, her voice, her scent. Crap, I was really falling for this girl. And she had no idea. Oh how I wished I could feel her lips on mine again. If she was mine I’d treat her like a princess. ”What?” she said, and pulled me back from my trance. ”What?” I asked. ”Why are you looking at me like that?” she smiled suspiciously. Damn it, I hate the way I always blush. ”Mike, are you okay?” she asked. My God… This was my chance to come clean. If the feelings weren’t mutual, at least I’d know. ”Tibby… About last night…” I was interrupted by Stone. ”Oh, you’re both here. Do you mind joining us in the living room in a bit? We kinda need to talk to you” he said, clearly nervous. I was annoyed. ”Sure, we’ll see you in a bit” Tibby said. Stone sighed and smiled before he turned around and left us. ”I’m gonna go freshen up. Thanks for the talk” Tibby smiled. Then she left as well. And here I was… Alone. With my thoughts. Great.


	7. Chapter 7

Stone’s POV  
I walked into my bedroom. Eddie was sitting on my bed, lost in his own little world. ”You okay?” I asked, slightly afraid to know the answer. He looked at me with his big puppy dog eyes. He reached out to grab my hand, so I closed the door behind me, took his hand, and sat down on the bed next to him. ”What’s up?” I asked as I stroke some of his hair away from his face. He looked at me. Dead serious. Like he was on a mission. My heart started beating fast by the feeling of his gaze. ”What are we?” he asked. I was kind of put out by his sudden need to know what we were. 

We never talked about that before. At first, in the beginning, I think we both were just in it for the fun part. We’d have quickies all the time. It was new and exciting, and so so hot. I always appreciated his good looks, but I thought for sure he was into girls. He’s had a few girlfriends, and sharing a tour bus with the guy, it was hard to avoid all the sounds and movements from his bunk whenever he brought a lucky lady back to the bus. One night, after one hell of a party, me and Ed were the last ones to leave. We got hungry, ordered pizza, and just sat and talked. Being both drunk and stoned out of our minds, we got a bit too comfortable. He was asking questions about my encounters with men, and I got so annoyed to a point that I dared him to try it for himself. If he really was that curious, he should just try it. I had ment he’d try with someone else, but all of a sudden he was sitting on my lap making out with me. Later that night he actually really got to try it out himself. Obviously he enjoyed it, two nights after our drunken canoodlings, he came into my bedroom and wanted more. This went on for a while. Then he moved out. I remember being hurt and sad, but I couldn’t tell the other guys. Once he was settled in in his apartment, he invited us to a party again. During the evening he pulled me aside and asked me to stay, he wanted to spend the night with me. I didn’t quite know what that ment and what he really wanted, but I promised I’d stay. 

That night something shifted in him. Our usual happy hour sessions were quick and intense, but this time I could tell he needed more than that. And we just really took our time to examine each other’s bodies, we took things slow and showed so much affection and passions. When we finished I reached for my clothes, but he stopped me. He asked me if I wanted to stay the night, and truthfully, I was a bit relieved. I wanted nothing more than to just stay put. We ended up talking all night. About the band, about Tibby. About life. It felt good having someone to talk to about important stuff, I’d missed that. Well, I did have Mike, but he was a friend. Eddie was… Eddie. He was still a friend, but now he was more than that. I just didn’t know what to call us. So now, that he asked me, I didn’t know what to say. 

”Say something, please” he whispered. I realised I’d been quiet for a while now. ”Ahm… I dunno, Ed. What are we?” He just looked at me, actually needing an anwer from me. ”Ugh… I hate these types of talks” I sighed. He shrugged. ”Well, I hate not knowing what to tell the guys when they ask. Because you know they will ask” he said. He was right. ”I haven’t really thought about what we are yet. I mean, I guess we’re more than just fuck buddies, right? We did tell each other we love each other last night. Right?” I asked. Suddenly I was unsure that really did happen. But his smile calmed me. ”Yeah, we did. I liked it” he said, satisfied. ”Are you my boyfriend?” he asked, once again with those damned puppy dog eyes. Even if I didn’t love him and all that, those eyes would make it pretty hard to turn him down. ”Only if you are mine” I said. ”Oh, well, in that case, I guess I’m still single” he said, pulling his and away from mine. ”No, stop!” I laughed and pushed his shoulder playfully. He laughed and pulled me into his embrace. ”You ready to tell everyone?” I asked him. ”Not even a little bit” he said. ”Mike’s already pissed. I opened his door to ask him if he would mind joining us in the living room in a bit, and he just seemed so uncomfortable and didn’t say anything. Luckily Tibby said that they’ll join us” I said as I picked the hem on Eddie’s boxers. ”Wait? Tibby? Was she in Mike’s room again?” he frowned. ”Again?” I looked up at him with a confused look. ”Yeah. You know when they busted us? They both came from Mike’s room” he said. ”Oh, shit, you’re right. Is something going on there?” I asked. ”How would I know, I was with you the whole time” he laughed.

Eddie’s POV  
Jeff and Lydia were sitting in the living room looking through one of Tibby’s trashy magazines and mocking all the celebs. Well, Jeff did the mocking, Lydia just laughed at him and tried to ignore his stupid comments. They looked so much in love. They’d been together for a couple of years now, and it had been amazing to witness their relationship grow. Man, is Jeff gonna be as pissed off as Mike? 

Speaking of, here he comes. He just gave me a look before he joined Jeff and Lydia. I stood in the kitchen, observing. ”Where’s Tibby?” Lydia asked. ”I’m here” she said, bouncing from her room towards the living room. ”Someone’s in a good mood?” Lydia smiled. ”It’s more of a ’fake it ’til you make it’-kind of thing” she said. Great, is she pissed now too? 

Mike’s POV  
Was she referring to me and us now?

Tibby’s POV  
Shit, they seem like they’re actually in love. That’s great and all, but why didn’t they just tell everyone right away? 

Jeff’s POV   
What? How did I miss this?

 

Mike’s POV  
They’re in love, blah blah blah. Fine, we get it. Can we just get back to our lives now, thank you very much. As I’m sitting here, I just wanna scream. I wanna yell at Stone for not telling me. I swear to God, if we were alone right now, I’d punch him. Not just for not telling me, but for fucking interrupting me earlier when I tried to confess to Tibby. 

 

Lydia’s POV  
Aaw, they’re cute together.

 

Stone’s POV  
Okay, they don’t seem too upset. That’s good. And I was afraid I was gonna have to do all the talking, but Ed’s got a lot on his chest today. 

 

Eddie’s POV  
Now I’ve said all that needs to be said for now. 

 

Mike’s POV  
”Great, are we done here? Good!” I said, and just got the hell out of there. I just couldn’t deal. I really really needed to talk to Tibby, but everyone and everything kept coming in the way. 

My door closed a little bit harder than I intended it to. I threw my body on the bed and closed my eyes. Why Mike? Why are you a nice guy? If I’d been a bad guy, girls would probably throw themselves at me. 

I heard a knock on my door. Maybe it was Tibby! ”Yeah?” I said, hoping to see her beautiful face. The door opened. It was Stone. ”Ugh, it’s you” I answered, clearly disappointed. ”I’m sorry, I just… wanted to make sure you’re okay with all of this?” he said. I shrugged. ”Can I come in?” he asked. ”Yes, why the hell do you ask all of a sudden?” I asked, in a rather rude tone. Stone came in and closed the door behind him. ”How pissed are you?” Stone asked. ”I’m not pissed” I stated. ”Right. You won’t talk to me, you won’t even look at me. I honestly thought you’d be happy for me” Stone said, and I could tell he was hurt. Well, news flash. So was I. ”Oh my God… Look… I have some shit going on, and the moment I try to fix it, people keep interrupting me. I’ve always been a good guy because I think it’s important to consider other people’s feelings, but it kinda backfired last night. Hell, it backfires all the time.” Stone sat down on my bed. ”I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. We just didn’t want anyone to know” he said weakly. ”No shit, Sherlock” I laughed sarcastically. ”But why the hell did you fucking do it with both me and Tibby in the house? Fuck, Tibby came in here because you were too loud! She couldn’t even sleep, man!” Stone looked kind of embarrassed. 

Stone’s POV  
Okay, so Ed and I definately could’ve been more careful. I didn’t even think about Tibby sharing a wall with me, I got so used to that room being empty. But Eddie had been so happy that Tibby was back. Once I’d left his place for the night, he suddenly showed up here and wanted to do it all over again. And who am I to refuse? Shit, the guy is hot, there’s no way I ever could resist him.

I looked at Mike. ”Mike, please, can we just talk about this? Like adults?” I had to ask. I just couldn’t stand him being mad at me, and I really didn’t wanna have to choose between him and Eddie. ”There’s nothing to talk about. I told you, I have some shit going on, and everytime I try to work my way through it, something else comes up.” He seemed sincere, but I couldn’t help but think that he was keeping something from me. But then again, I kept me and Eddie from him for a really long time. ”I know this might be a shot in the dark, but… You know you can talk to me, right?” I said weakly. Mike just shrugged. ”I used to think so, but then you started doing stuff to Eddie, and you didn’t tell me about it, so…” I could tell he was a bit hurt, his sharp tone gave him away. 

Tibby’s POV  
Once Lydia and Jeff left, I hid in my bedroom. I didn’t want to see Mike. Everytime I saw him I just travelled back to when he pushed me away and told me we shouldn’t be kissing. I didn’t even want to live here anymore. But I couldn’t stay with Ed, could I? ”Tibby?” I heard him say from the other side of my door. ”Come in” I sighed. 

He carefully opened my door, as if it was fragile and could break at any moment. ”Can I come in?” he asked. ”Yeah, didn’t I just say so?” What is up with him? He laughed uncomfortably and closed the door behind him. I could tell he wanted to talk to me, but he just stood there. Hands in his pockets, staring at everything but me. ”Okay, sit down, you’re making me uncomfortable” I said. He sat on the edge of my bed. ”Are you okay? I mean, with this whole Stone thing?” he asked. ”What? Of course I am. I’m just a bit sad you didn’t tell people sooner” He nodded. ”Yeah, me too. But now it’s out there” he smiled gently. ”I hope you’re not too annoyed with me” he added. ”Why would you think I’m annoyed?” I asked, did I come off as annoyed? I certainly didn’t mean to. ”I dunno. Once Jeff and Lydia left, you disappeared.” Yes, that’s true. But that’s not because of him. 

Eddie’s POV  
She’s keeping something from me. I can so tell. ”I know, but it has nothing to do with you, I promise” she claimed. ”Then what is it? You wanna talk about it?” She laughed nervously and shook her head. ”I can’t. Not with you. It’s too weird.” she whispered. ”Hey, I’m your bro, tell me!” I said. I was curious now. ”Bro? Oh my God, don’t ever use that word ever again!” she laughed. Phew, a little less tension between us. Good job, Ed. I looked at her. She had the same uncomfortable expression I always got when someone asked me to talk about things. I was about to tell her she didn’t have to, when she suddenly started talking. ”Mike… You know Mike… Mike?” she said in a goofy way. ”Yeeaah? I’m familiar with whom you’re referring to” I laughed. ”Yes, doh. Of course… Ahm… I kinda… We, we kinda… Last night we…” she stuttered. ”You what? Tibby, did he do something to you?” I asked. ”What? Oh God, no! I just… I couldn’t sleep, so I went over to his room to see if he was still up. And he was, so we started talking, and…” She was rambling, her words didn’t make any sense. ”Tibby, you’re not making any sense, can you just slow down?” I laughed. ”It’s not funny!” she snapped. 

Mike’s POV  
I finally opened up to Stone. It felt good, finally I told someone, and I saved myself from going crazy. I watched him, searched for a reaction. He just looked at me. ”Wow, Mike… Dude… I had no idea. I mean, it’s been like three hours since she got back!” he said. ”It has been a little more than three hours. But mind you, a lot has happened since she came back. First of all she wanted me to stay with her when she took a shower” I told him. ”Yeah, I don’t think that means anything… She would’ve asked anyone, she was scared shitless.” Gee, thanks for ruining that for me. I felt kind of special since she picked me, but Stone was probably right. That didn’t explain what happended after, though. ”She wanted me to go with her to the doctor’s, that has to mean something?” I said, hopefully he agreed. ”Well… It was only because Lydia had to work.” He must’ve seen the disappointed look on my face. ”I’m sorry I’m such a party pooper, I’ll shut up now” he sighed. ”Well, you haven’t heard the last part. When you guys got it going on last night, she came in here, right? I was playing around with some riffs, and she sat on the bed next to me and she put her head on my shoulder. When I was done she cuddled up to me and pulled me closer to her, and…”

Eddie’s POV  
What the fuck, man! ”Hey, McCready! You kissed my sister?!”

Stone’s POV  
Shit, he scared me! Wait, they kissed?

Mike’s POV  
Fuuuuck! I’m dead.


	8. Chapter 8

Tibby’s POV  
Okay, so now I understand why Mike wanted to talk to my stupid ass brother before we kissed. He’s crazy mad! 

”Eddie, calm the fuck down!” I yelled, trying to pull him away from Mike. ”Back off, Tibby! Imma kick your ass, Mike!” he said as he yanked his arm away from me. ”Whoa, hey hey hey! Ed, get it together!” Stone said while he acted as a barrier between Mike and Eddie. ”Stone, you better get the fuck away from me, I am not in the mood for this bullshit!”

Eddie was furious. All I could do was staring at the scenario playing out before my eyes. ”Why, Mike? Just tell my why the hell you kissed her!” he hissed. Stone got closer and held Eddie’s shoulders so that he couldn’t get to Mike. Mike looked confused and terrified. ”Babe, you need to calm the fuck down!” Stone said. ”Why? I wanna know what his intentions are! I deserve to know” I looked at Mike. Poor Mike. ”Why? Why do you deserve to know?” Stone asked. ”Stone… Don’t start with me. I told you, I’m not in the mood” Eddie whispered angrily at Stone. ”Well??!” He was yelling at Mike now. I wanted to speak, but I just couldn’t. My brain had completely forgotten how to form words. ”I didn’t… We didn’t… Look, Ed…” Mike stuttered. Of course he stuttered, what the hell was he suppose to say to him? ”Mike, you don’t have to justify anything to him, at least not now” Stone said. ”What the hell, Stone?” Eddie said. ”Well, he doesn’t. You don’t get to burst in here like this. What do you expect him to say? Or how do you expect him to react? You scared the shit outta both of us with you lunatic yelling. Why are you so upset?” Eddie froze. He looked at Stone. Then at Mike, and at me. And back at Stone again. Suddenly he just turned on his heels and stormed out. The door closed so hard, I was afraid it was gonna fall off the wall. 

Stone’s POV  
My goodness… What a mess he created just now.

Mike’s POV  
My heart is beating so fast, I wanna throw up.

”That was fun” Stone said. Both me and Tibby just looked at him. ”I’ll leave you two alone for a bit, I have to check on the gorilla out there” he said before he left my room. 

Tibby sat down on my bed, she looked exhausted. ”You okay?” I asked. She turned to face me. ”Am I okay? You’re the one who almost took a beating. God, I just don’t know what got into him.” She seemed upset. I sat down next to her.  
I didn’t know what to say, but at least it felt good being this close to her again. ”I’m so sorry, Mike.” Tibby said. ”About what?” I asked. She looked at me with her big brown eyes. ”About Eddie. I had no idea. I get why you wanted to talk to him before.” I smiled weakly. ”If I’d known this was the way he’d react, I wouldn’t even consider talking to him. I would’ve just kept going” I admitted. ”You would?” She seemed surprised. 

Eddie’s POV  
I can’t even remember the last time I lost my cool like that. But just the idea of him kissing her. Well, it doesn’t have anything to do with Mike. I would’ve been just as upset if it was someone else. 

”Babe, you in here?” Stone said and opened the door to his room. ”Yep” I said. I felt embarrassed. He came in and sat beside me on the bed. ”What the hell happened in there, Ed?” he asked. I just shook my head and shrugged. ”I dunno, I… I guess I’m a bit jealous.” Stone looked at me. ”Jealous? Like, you wanna kiss…?” he asked. ”What? Oh no, ew. EW! No… I just… She’s been back for just a few hours, and she’s been spending most of her time back, with Mike. She doesn’t even want to talk to me. At least that’s what it seems like. I’m her brother, I’m the one she should be talking to.” I felt sick to my stomach. Hearing out loud what I’d only been thinking, it sounded twisted and weird. But now it was out there. It felt good. 

Stone just pulled me close and held me. It felt safe, thank god for this man. He alway knew when to speak and when to just comfort me.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This might be a bit boring, but I had to include this part. Otherwise everything would be weird.

Mike’s POV  
I never want this moment to end. Me and Tibby, just lying on my bed talking. We finally talked about the kissing. She was scared I didn’t really want to kiss her, and I was scared she just wanted a one time thing. Hearing her say that she felt the same tingles I felt, oh man. Now we were both on our backs right next to each other. 

Tibby’s POV  
I’m kinda glad Eddie had his stupid tantrum, this way me and Mike were forced to talk about the kissing. When he told me he felt the same way as me, I felt so happy. But at the same time I got scared. Shit suddenly got a bit more real, and I might have to tell him what went on while I was away. Luckily for me, he knew some of it already, but there was just so much more… 

But this moment, right here, right now. I loved it. We talked about all sorts of stuff. Mostly about Mike and his life. Which was fine, I found it interesting. 

I watched him while he was talking. The way his lips moved and his eyes sparkled when he talked about stuff he enjoyed, it was all so adorable. I just couldn’t take it anymore, I had to kiss him again. Okay, here we go…

Mike’s POV  
Ooh shit, she’s leaning in to kiss me. Isn’t she? She definately is! Aaand then someone knock on the door.

”Are you serious?” I said, irritated. ”What?” I asked, looking at the door. ”It’s me, can we talk?” It was Eddie. ”Oh crap!” Tibby said and sat right up. I looked at her, and she gave me a confirming nod. ”Sure, what’s up?” I asked as I sat up too. He opened the door and looked in. ”Oh, you’re both here, good.” He came in and leaned agaist the doorframe. ”I ahm… I’m sorry about before, I was way way out of line.” I just looked at him, wanted him to say what he needed to say, then get the hell out. ”I just have to get used to the idea of the two of you. I promise I won’t flip again” he said. ”Good, because I need my brother. I need you to stay sane, okay?” Tibby said. ”I’ll try my best” he laughed. ”You haven’t seen my place yet. You wanna have dinner? Just you and me?” He looked like a little kid on his birthday, hoping to get what he really really wanted. ”Sure, sounds good.” she said. He sighed in relief, smiled and left. ”Wow” she said. ”Yeah” I nodded. ”Now I’m kind of nervous” she said. ”I’m sure it’ll be fine.” I smiled. I was a bit bummed though, I was hoping to spend more time with her, but I genuinely hoped Eddie and Tibby had a nice evening. ”It probably will be. I just wanted to spend some time with you, that’s all” she said. ”I’m here when you get back. No rush” I smiled. She was so cute. She gave me a grateful smile. We just looked at each other for a bit before I leaned in and placed my lips on hers. Yes, at last. 

Stone’s POV  
Yay, finally a night with my best man Mike. Pizza and movies with hot chicks. And hot dudes. He’s great like that, he doesn’t care if I drool over some hot ass actor. When I first came out, Mike was the first one I told. I was so scared, but he said he didn’t care. 

The doorbell rang as I had my hands full with chips bags, pop and everything. ”Shit. Mike! The door!” I yelled. I tried putting everything down at once, but it didn’t seem like it would work. The doorbell rang again. ”MIKE! For the love of god, the door!” I yelled again. Tibby and Eddie had already left, so he was my only hope right now. He came walking out of his room with a stupid grin on his face. ”What’s with you?” I laughed. He looked silly. ”Nothing you need to concern yourself with” he smiled as he went to open the door. ”Whatever” I laughed. ”Hey, we have room for one more, right?” Mike suddenly asked. ”Ahm, sure?” I said, confused. I was sure it was the pizza guy at the door. But it was Jeff. His girlfriend had to work, so he wanted to hang. Good, the more, the merrier. 

Mike’s POV  
Having Jeff here is actually pretty good. I was a bit nervous, I’m still not entirely comfortable with the idea of Stone and Eddie. Jeff is so much fun, he makes everything so easy. And he’s not afraid to ask the questions I find too uncomfortable to ask, yet I’m curious about. 

Jeff’s POV  
Some shit has been going down since I was here earlier. Tibby and Mike? That’s huge, man! ”Was he really pissed? That’s hilarious!” I laughed. ”Shut the fuck up, it was scary as hell!” Mike said. ”Like he really was gonna punch you? Come on, man” I said. I just couldn’t believe it. ”I really was gonna punch him, he was furious” Stone said. ”Are you serious? What the hell, man…” I was surprised he would react that way. Eddie usually was a very calm guy.  
Stone’s POV  
I could’ve told them what Eddie told me, butt hat wouldn’t be right. He told me that in confidence. Luckily Jeff changed the subject. ”Hey, how did this whole thing with you and Eddie start? He was kinda vague about it earlier” he asked. That I had no problem talking about. 

Tibby’s POV  
Wow, Eddie cooks. At it tastes good. Really good. 

We didn’t quite know what to say to each other at first. We just sat in silence and ate. I figured I might as well talk. ”So, you and Stone…” I said. ”Yeah… And, you and Mike?” I couldn’t help but smile. Everytime I as much as heard his name, I wanted to giggle. ”Yeah. Well, I dunno… You scared him to death before” I said and looked at him. He smiled. ”Good. Now he won’t mess with you!” I rolled my eyes and laughed. ”I am sorry about before, though… I just… I felt kind of left out. I know I had this whole thing with Stone going on, but I want you to talk to me. That’s kinda my job, to help you out.” I could tell he was a bit hurt. ”I know… I’m sorry… It’s just that… A lot happened while I was away, and I don’t wanna talk to you about it. I don’t even know if I’m ever gonna tell anyone about it. Mike knows a little bit from when he came with me to the doctor’s, but…” He sighed. ”You talk to me when you’re ready. I don’t wanna push you, I just need you to know that I’m here.” I smiled at gave him a hug. 

Mike’s POV  
I’m so full from all the food. We ordered plenty, there are leftovers for days. Even Lydia came by after her shift, and we still couldn’t finish it. 

Eddie and Tibby came back after their dinner. They both looked so happy, they were laughing and making small talk as they came towards us. ”Hey, there you are! How was dinner? He didn’t give you food poisoning?” Stone jokingly laughed. ”Give it a couple more hours, I’ll let you know” Tibby smiled. I just couldn’t stop looking at her. My mind went back to that moment I saw her totally distroyed in Stone’s arms, and my heart broke for her. I was curious to what had happened with that scum bag she was with. I pretty much knew the gist, but I had a feeling there was more to it. 

Eddie sat down next to Stone, and they looked at each other and smiled. How on earth did we miss this, it was so obvious now. Tibby sat down on an ottoman. I was hoping she’d sit next to me, but I understood it might feel awkward. She did give me a smile, though.

Tibby’s POV  
All I wanted to do was to sit down next to Mike and cuddle up. Maybe he would find it embarrassing, so I sat down on the ottoman. Oh my God, I’m such a teenager again. Why can’t I just sit next to the guy without feeling awkward? Thank God Lydia is talking to me, I need to concentrate. 

It was hard hearing her over all the other ones, so she moved closer to Jeff and signaled for me to sit next to her. That also happened to be next to Mike. Aaah, I see what she did there. Sneaky. 

Lydia’s POV  
I got you, girl!


	10. Chapter 10

Mike’s POV  
I was nervously sitting in Jeff’s living room. He handed me a cup of coffee and sat down, taking a sip of his own. ”What’s up?” he asked. I had called him earlier, I needed advice. It had been a couple of weeks since Tibby and I had kissed. We’d been crazy busy with band practices, recordings and promo work. Now we finally had some time off before heading out on the road. We were gonna be away for a while, and I wanted to hang out with Tibby as much as I could before we left. The thing was though, that since we’d been so busy, we’d hardly talked, and I found it a bit awkward now. 

”It’s Tibby… I mean, it’s me.. And Tibby… I dunno” I stuttered. ”Gee, relax, man” he laughed. He knew me well enough by now to notice how weird I found it talking about this stuff. Whenever I’d had a girlfriend before, it felt nothing like this. And Tibby wasn’t even my girlfriend! Yet. ”You and Tibby?” Jeff asked, trying to get me to spill it. ”I want to hang out with her before we leave and stuff, I dunno why I find it so damned awkward asking her” I admitted. ”Have you been hanging out much during the last couple of weeks?” he asked. ”No, you know how busy we’ve been.” He nodded. ”Yeah, me and Lydia haven’t been able to hang much either, and we live in the same house” he said. ”If I ask her if she wanna catch a movie or have dinner, will that be considered a date? Like, a date-date?” I said, suddenly aware that it might. Jeff laughed. ”Yeah, so what? You don’t wanna date her?” I do want to date her. ”Yeah, but I’m not sure if she’s there yet. I don’t wanna push her. Besides, if she says no, my ego will me severely hurt” I sighed. Jeff was about to say something, when Lydia came back from work. ”Oh, hey Mike!” she smiled when she saw me. I always liked her, she seemed perfect for Jeff. ”Come here, babe” Jeff said and pointed to the couch. ”I was about to tell Mike about our first date” he said. ”Oh my God, you’ve told me like a hundred times before” I said, rolling my eyes and laughing. ”I’ve told you about our official first date, but that wasn’t our first date.” I was confused. They told me about Jeff wanting to go out on a date with Lydia, she thought he was an ass, and refused to go. He’d asked several times, and she always declined him. To make a long, loooong, story short, he’d surprised her one day after work. He used to work in a coffee shop, and he’d made her come by after her shift. It was after hours, so they had the place all to themselves. He’d lit a bunch of candles, made her a rather simple meal, and they’d stayed and talked for hours. ”…so even if she turns you down, you just don’t give up. I’m glad I didn’t” he smiled. It was a nice story. But I didn’t have his confidence. If Tibby turned me down, I would never have the guts to ask again. 

Tibby’s POV  
I was hanging out with Eddie and Stone. They were watching a lame ass movie that I didn’t really care for. All I could do was think about Mike. We hadn’t really been talking much since the guys started rehearsing and recording. I knew he was busy, but I couldn’t help but think he might be avoiding me. After what seemed like an enternity, the movie ended, and Eddie and Stone left for his place. Mike wasn’t home yet, so I went to bed. After a while I heard him. I wanted to talk to him, but I was too nervous. 

Mike’s POV  
Tibby’s gone to bed. Man, I wanted to ask her if she wanted to do something. Might as well hit the shower, then go to bed myself. 

Tibby’s POV  
Tib, this is stupid. Just ask him. Should I? Noo, I can’t. Yes, I can. Okay, I’m going. He’s probably in his bedroom. 

Mike’s POV  
Man, good shower. I’m gonna air dry on my bed.

Tibby’s POV  
I can’t hear him. Is he asleep? Should I knock? 

Mike’s POV  
Kinda chilly, might as well get my pj’s.

Tibby’s POV  
”Mike, are you up? Oh my God, I’m so sososo sorry!” Crap! Knock! Always knock!

Mike’s POV  
Yelp! Thank God I managed to cover myself up in time. That girl needs to learn how to knock!

Tibby’s POV  
I’m so embarrassed! I need to get back to my room. Why is my door so far away, I’m literally running here. 

Mike’s POV  
Shit, I hope I didn’t scare her in some way. I have to go after her. Great, she just closed her door. 

Tibby’s POV  
Is he coming after me? I don’t want him to! Except I do. But he won’t come here, I just ran out of there. Might as well get out there again, the poor thing is probably super embarrassed as well.

Mike’s POV  
I don’t care if she closed the door, I need to see her!

Tibby’s POV  
Okay, opening my door. ”Oh, hi!” 

Mike’s POV  
”Hey!”


	11. Chapter 11

Mike’s POV  
After the she-almost-saw-me-naked-incident, things weren’t so awkward anymore. We had a good laugh about it and we both admitted that we were too shy to just come out and tell each other we wanted to hang out. 

Now, in the middle of the night, we were sitting in the living room talking. It was so easy with her. We shared the same stupid sense of humor and we enjoyed the same things. ”How long will you be gone on tour?” she asked, and I could sense the sadness in her voice. ”A couple of months.” I said as I rested my head on the back of the couch. ”Oh…” was all she replied. ”You could come with us?” I offered. I don’t even know why I offered. We had an agreement that no one were to bring anyone on this tour. We needed to focus. It was actually my idea in the first place. That was of course before I knew about Stone and Eddie. They’d promised us that it wouldn’t be a problem, so I just had to trust them. 

”I’d love to, but I can’t. Lydia’s fixed me a job at the hospital cafeteria, I kinda have to be there” she said. I was glad she had gotten a job, she needed to get out more. That shit with Ben really messed her up, and I was happy to see her make an effort to not let it screw her life over. ”I understand. I’m gonna miss hanging out with you, though” I said shyly. She gave me a smile and sat down next to me. She put her arms around my waist and cuddled up next to me. It felt good to be able to put my arms around her small body. I kissed her forehead and rested my cheek on her head. ”Hey, you wanna go out on a date with me?” I suddenly blurted out. I instantly regretted it, this was not the way I wanted to ask her that. She laughed. ”You’re so cute” she smiled. Yes, cute. Here we go again. But to my surprise she said she’d love to go on a date with me. I was so happy. We decided on Saturday. Dinner and a movie. Basic, but hopefully it’d be nice.

Tibby’s POV  
I CAN’T BELIEVE HE ASKED ME ON A DATE! I’m excited! 

Mike’s POV  
We just sat there in each other’s arms, and finally we both fell asleep. 

Eddie’s POV  
I can’t fucking believe there’s a gas leakage in my building. Thank god I can stay at Stone’s while they fix it. That means I can be with him more than usual. I can check him out all the time now. Like right now, when he’s unlocking the front door. His fine ass, I just wanna squeeze it. So I’m gonna. 

”Whoa, hey!” he laughed as I pinched his butt. ”Sorry” I smiled teasingly. I wasn’t even a litte bit sorry. He laughed and rolled his eyes as he pushed oped the door for us. 

As I closed it behind me, I felt his arms around me and I looked up into his gorgeous dark eyes. They were filled with pure lust and it made me shiver. I could feel my jeans getting instantly tighter, and Stone obviously felt the same way. He rubbed his bulk and started to unzip his jeans. ”Whoa, here?” I laughed. ”Yeah, why not?” he teased me. ”Well, for one, there’s a window right there” I said and pointed to the window behind him. ”And Mike and Tibby are home, I don’t feel like getting caught by them again” I laughed. ”But I wannaaa” he whined. ”I want to too, but I think we’ll be safer in your bed, don’t you think?” He sighed. ”Okay. But you owe me a blow job now!” he said as he walked away. I laughed. ”That is not a problem!”

When we walked through the living room, I was glad I made us wait until we were in bed. Tibby and Mike were asleep on the couch, and us having sex in the hallway would’ve definately woken them up. I looked at them as we walked past them. They looked peaceful. I couldn’t help but feel a brotherly responsibility and covered them with a blanket. ”Hurry!” Stone whispered. I tip toed into his room, eager to do with Stone as I pleased.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter became way more sexual than I intended it to. It was fun writing. Enjoy!

Stone’s POV  
Oh my fucking god, that man knows how to please me! His warm wet mouth around me, I won’t be able to last very long. 

I still had all my clothes on, we didn’t have the time to get undressed, he just yanked my pants down and pushed me on the bed. I was laying on my back, watching him enjoy me. He was on his knees giving me pleasure with his soft warm tongue and lips while he was rubbing himslef. ”Ed… Babe…” I panted and tried to push him off me. He just vacuumed me even harder, refusing to move. I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. ”I just wanna see you naked” I whispered. He stopped and looked up at me. ”Take your clothes off for me, babe” I whispered. He gave me a weak smile and sat up, pulling his shirt off. I mirrored him and took my shirt off as well. I kicked my shoes off and noticed that Eddie already had gotten rid of his. I pulled my pants and my boxers off and watched as Eddie got naked in front of me. His body was so sexy, I could just look at him forever. He was just as horny as I was, I didn’t even notice I was staring at his cock. ”See anything you like?” he laughed. I smiled slightly embarrassed and felt my cheeks turn red. He pulled me up to him and kissed me passionately. God, I loved him so much. His tongue tasted like me, and usually that would’ve freaked me out. But not with him. I found it so erotic and sexy, it made my cock twitch. And as it did, it bumped ever so slightly against his and we both moaned. 

Eddie’s POV  
I can’t believe I’m here with this beautiful man. I can’t really believe I’m with a man at all. Before Stone, I was only with girls. And while the sex was good, it was nothing like this. It’s like he knows my body, he knows how to work me, how to turn me on, how to bring me over the edge and make it last and last. Before, with a girl, I would be in it for my own. I would do what was necessary, but as long as I got mine, I really didn’t bother. With Stone on the other hand… Seeing him in pure pleasure, feeling his body, hearing his sexy sounds, tasting him and exploring him… That was way more important to me than just cumming myself. 

I sat up and pulled him up with me. We were facing each other now, his legs around my waist and his arms around my neck. I felt the butterflies in my stomach flapping their wings like crazy as he kissed me hungrily. I reached down and started stroking us both with just one hand. Feeling him against me almost made me cum right there. ”Oh god, yes…” he whispered and closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling. ”That’s right, enjoy it for me” I whispered back, watching him, taking him in. I felt his hand on top of mine as he started to help me. We both watched as we stroked each other, only interrupting with a kiss now and then. I could feel him getting harder and harder, his hips started to thrust to the beat of the stroking, and his breathing became heavier. His soft moans got louder and louder, and I realised my hips were thrusting too. ”Shit Stone, I’m close” I whispered as I felt the familiar feeling deep inside me. ”Me too, keep going” he panted. I was sweating and breathing. As I pushed him over the edge, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him. He looked beautiful, and that made me explode inside as well. 

Stone’s POV  
Well, shit… I’m seeing stars.

”You okay?” Eddie smiled at me. ”Yeah… Wow… That was… Wow” I said. I didn’t even know how to describe the incredible feeling. He kissed me and got up and went into my bathroom. I was laying spread out on the bed, closed my eyes and counted my blessings. I was so lucky. Suddenly I felt something wet against my skin and looked down. Eddie was back with a wash cloth. ”Sorry, I’m just cleaning up my mess” he smiled. I pulled him close and kissed him again before I let him finish. 

He crawled up on the bed and positioned himself behind my back. He pressed himself against me and held me close, starting to caress my stomach and chest. I pulled the covers over us and pressed myself even closer to him. He kissed my neck, which made it tickle. ”Stop” I laughed. ”Hmm?” he said teasingly and just continued the kissing. I laughed and tried to lift my arms to push him away, but he held me too tight. ”Eddie, stop!” I giggled and tried to move. Instead of listening to me, he started to bite me instead, which made it tickle even more. ”Noo, stop it you ass!” I laughed. He just gave me a loving smile before continuing. 

In the beginning I was the one always taking initiative, I was the one who always cuddled him after sex, it was important to both of us. For him it was important to feel wanted, to feel like what we’d just done was okay, and for me it was important to show him that I was serious about us and to show him that I wanted more than just sex. But now, he’d been taking as much care of me as I had been him, and it felt so wonderful. It was nice to have someone taking care of me, he made me feel so loved. It ment the world to me. 

He put his arms even tighter around me, kissed my shoulder and told me to go to sleep. I turned around as much as I could and gave him a soft kiss before closing my eyes. ”I love you, Gossard” I heard him say. I fell asleep with the biggest smile on my face.


	13. Chapter 13

Tibby’s POV  
After my first few shifts at my new job, I was starting to relax more. I had been so scared prior to my first shift, what if Ben or some of his friends saw me there. But the place was always packed with people, that made me feel safer. Luckily my shifts had matched up with Lydia’s shifts, so I never went from work alone. She was great, she made sure I got home safe.

”Are you excited about tomorrow?” she asked me, referring to my big date night. We were done at work, and had the weekend off. ”Yeah, excited and terrified. What if it gets awkward?” I said nervously. ”I’m sure it’ll be fine. Mike really likes you, you know” she said. That made me smile, I really liked him too. ”Have you decided on what to wear yet?” Lydia asked. Crap, I hadn’t even thought of that. ”I don’t have anything date-ish” I suddenly realised. ”Oh, we’ll have to do some shopping tomorrow, then!” she smiled. I was happy Lydia was helping me. If I’d asked Eddie, he’d say I should wear a garbage bag. Before she dopped me off at Ed’s, we made plans to go shopping before my date.

Stone’s POV  
Dinner was on the table, we were just waiting for Tibby. We were lying on the couch talking. Eddie was such a weirdo, it was amusing. Ever since Tibby was back, Eddie had been loosening up more, and it felt so great. He was back to who he was when I first met him all those years ago. He laid in my arms, his whole body relaxed against mine, his breathing was calm and his voice was vibrating through out my whole body, which made me shiver ever so slightly. My fingers got tangled in his curly locks, which reminded me of my hair appointment. ”Hey, babe.. I’m getting my hair cut tomorrow” I said as I tried to untangle myself. ”What?” he said, sitting up to get a better look at me. ”Why?” he said, confused. ”Sick of it…” He looked at me, as if I was kidding. ”You can’t cut your hair. It’s so pretty!” He made me smile shyly. ”Thanks, I guess. I just need a change. Plus, I look like a girl” I laughed. I actually didn’t, but it was my best argument. ”Yeah, but you’re my girl” Eddie teased. ”Shut up!” I couldn’t help but laugh. ”But honestly, cut your hair if you want to. I bet you still look gorgeous” he smiled. I felt my whole face turn red. I’m glad the doorbell rang, because I didn’t know how to respond to that. 

Eddie’s POV  
I’m happy Tibby spends time with me before we leave, we haven’t really been able to catch up on things. She just told me about her plans with Mike tomorrow. Stone already knew, Mike had told him. ”He’s so nervous, it’s adorable” Stone laughed as he cut another bite of is food. ”No, poor Mike. It’s no joke being nervous!” Tibby said. ”What about you? How are you feeling?” I asked. She thought about it for a moment. ”I guess I’m kinda nervous as well. What if it’s awkward or that we don’t have anything to talk about?” she said. ”Yeah, but what if you do have something to talk about? Positive thoughts!” I smiled. Stone looked at me and gave me a small laugh. I wasn’t exactly Mr. Positivity myself. ”I’m sure it’ll be fun. Mike’s really into you, he has been for a while now. Ever since he waited for you when you took a shower that first night in your bathroom..” Wait, WHAT? What did he just say?!

Tibby’s POV  
What? Did he look at me in the shower? Is that why he wants to take me out on a date?

Stone’s POV  
Oh my fucking God, I’m so stupid… 

”What did you just say?” Eddie asked. I probably just looked mortified. ”Ed, please don’t flip out, I…” I stuttered. ”Is that why he wants to take me on a date?” Tibby asked. ”Oh, no, it has nothing to do with that..” I tried to reassure her. ”What business did he have watching you in the shower?” Eddie asked. ”And you knew about this?” he spat at me. This was way too much, I just wanted to scream. ”Eddie, take me home. I have to talk to Mike” Tibby said. ”Oh God no, just let me talk to him first, please?” I begged her. Did I really fuck everything up, just like that? ”Eddie, now please!” She totally ignored me. ”Oh, you bet I’m gonna take you home. I need to have a word with him myself!” Eddie said. ”CALM THE FUCK DOWN!” They both stopped and looked at me. Now what do I say?


	14. Chapter 14

Mike’s POV  
Jeff and Lydia were at my place for dinner. We talked about Tibby, and I could tell they were excited for us. ”I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with a girfriend before” Lydia said. She was right, I was always uncomfortable with showing off the girls I was with. Not because I was embarrassed by them, I was just scared they might be embarrassed by me. So I just never bothered. ”No, I’m not a show-off-kind of guy” I laughed. Jeff laughed and said that showing off Lydia was the best part of having a girlfriend, to which she was not amused to hear and pinched his butt until he said he was sorry. He laughed teasingly and softly kissed her. They were cute. I wanted that. Hopefully I’d get that soon. 

”Hey, I was thinking we should have a break-a-leg-on-tour-party before we leave!” Jeff suggested. ”Oh yeah, that sounds fun. But we leave on Monday, and I am NOT going to cancel on Tibby just so we can have a party tomorrow” I said. ”Why don’t you have it tomorrow anyways, and you and Tibby can join when you get back from your date?” Lydia said. ”That would work! Please pleasepleaseprettyplease!” Jeff begged and looked at me with wide puppy dog eyes. ”Sure, whatever” I laughed. I was so excited about tomorrow, I got tingles just thinking about it. ”I asked Tibby what she was planning on wearing tomorrow, the poor thing got super nervous, so I’m taking her shopping tomorrow” Lydia smiled. ”Oh crap, what am I gonna wear?” I whined. ”As long as you wear clothes, you’ll be fine” Jeff laughed. ”Well, she actually almost saw me naked the other day” I laughed, and told the story. 

Stone’s POV  
Yikes, Tibby has the same I’ll-fucking-kill-you-in-cold-blood-look as Eddie when she gets upset. 

”Guys, try to hear me… Eddie, Mike only waited on Tibby because she was scared to death taking a shower. Tib, you can confirm that, right?” I said, hoping she’d agree. ”Yeah, I really was. Long story short, whenever I took a shower when I was with Ben, I knew something bad was in store for me” she said. Eddie’s look softened a bit as he took in what she was saying. ”And, Tibby, Mike wasn’t a creep spying on you while you were in the shower. He just genuinely felt for you, and a lot of stuff happened that night, right. You passed out right in front of him, he took you to the doctor’s…” She sighed and nodded. She knew I was right. Thank God, good way to recover, Stone. I should really learn how to shut the fuck up. ”Can we please just get back to dinner, and forget about me and my big mouth?” They nodded and settled down. 

Tibby’s POV  
I know what Stone said makes sense, but I just can’t shake it off. What if he only wants me in a sexual way? I’m not ready for that. I might not ever be. 

***

Jeff’s POV  
Yay, party tonight! I have to call everyone, we have to do some shopping, we have to decide on a time- Whoa, hey… What’s going on?

I looked down and smiled. Lydia was awake and had gotten under the covers and was working on removing my boxers. ”Good morning, babe” I smiled. ”Sssh, no talking” she said from under there. Okay, I can be quiet. I helped her on getting my boxers off and grabbed her arms and pulled her up to me. Her cinnamon skin felt silky soft underneath my fingers. She pulled the covers off of us and smiled at me. She was butt naked and I just looked at her in awe. She was so beautiful, so petite and feminine, yet curvy in all the right places. She was sitting on top of me now and teased me. I let my fingers explore her valleys and her mountains. I almost lost my breath when she let me enter her. She was the best I’d ever had, she made my toes curl and even though I felt so vulnerable with her, she made me feel so strong. She made me feel like a man, in a way that no one else could. God, I loved this woman. 

Tibby’s POV  
Mike is up. At least I think that’s Mike. It could me Stone. Or Ed. What do I say to Mike? Do I act casual or do I mention our date? Shit, what time is it? 11:30. I’m suppose to meet up with Lydia soon, she’s probably waiting already!

Lydia’s POV  
Oh God, this feels so good. I could go on like this for hours. He’s taking his time here, for sure. I’m not complaining!

Tibby’s POV  
There, all dressed. I need to eat something.

As I walked into the kitchen I saw Stone. I was shocked! ”Stone! Your hair!” He turned around, smiling. ”You like it?” he asked. If someone had asked me the night before if I’d think he’d suit short hair, I’d say no. But he looked hella good! ”I love it! You look really different though! Has Eddie seen it yet?” He shook his head as he chewed his cereal. ”No, he’s on his way over here now, so we’ll see what he thinks.” I heard footsteps behind me. ”Wow, you’re bald!” Mike exclaimed. ”No, I’m not!” Stone laughed. ”You look like a dork” he said. ”Mike!” I laughed and hit his arm playfully with the back of my hand. ”Ow!” he laughed. Stone sat down in the livingroom, giving Mike and me some privacy. ”Ready for tonight?” he asked gently. ”Yeah, I’m excited” I smiled. Still, something in my head said that he only wanted to get laid. 

I took my bowl of cereal with me and sat down beside of Stone. Mike disappeared into his room for a bit, and Stone looked at me. ”Please shake it off. What I said yesterday and all, don’t let it ruin tonight. You have no idea how excited he is about this” he told me. Was I that obvious? ”I know, and what you said made perfect sense, I just can’t seem to forget about it. With my history and all, can you blame me?” I said. He sighed. ”No, I can’t. But in that case, you should talk to him. You owe it to him to be honest. Mike might seem like an all-around-happy guy, but he’s been through stuff too” he said bluntly. What stuff? He did have a point, though. I should just be honest right from the start. 

I knocked on Mike’s door, laughing a bit when the memory of the last time I was here, popped into my head. Right at that moment he opened the door. And there I was, grinning like an idiot. ”What’s with you?” he smiled and let me in. ”Nothing, I just thought of the last time I was here and how I didn’t knock” I said. ”Ah” he laughed and nodded. ”What’s up?” he asked as I sat down on his bed. He sat down beside me and looked at me, waiting. ”Ahm… About tonight…” I stuttered.

Mike’s POV  
Is she cancelling on me? I think my heart just dropped.

Tibby’s POV  
”Last night, Stone blurted out that you’ve kinda liked me since that time in the shower, and…” I looked at him carefully as I spoke, trying to pick up on his expressions. 

Mike’s POV  
What the hell, Stone.  
I sighed and looked at her. ”You have nothing to worry about. I want to take you out on a date to get to know you better, not to sleep with you” I laughed gently. I could just see the tension from her shoulders disappear. She smiled and gave me a hug. ”Thanks” she said and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before getting up. ”I’m gonna go eat my breakfast. See you later?” I smiled and nodded. 

Jeff’s POV  
Wow. That was gooood. 

Lydia’s POV  
I still got it! Oh crap, I have to get going!

Tibby’s POV  
Lydia, where the hell are you?? 

I looked around for her. We decided to meet at the mall. The place was crowded. Suddenly I thought I recognised someone. I immediately wanted to throw up. I couldn’t be absolutely sure, but I thought I recognised his long hair, and no one but him has that walk. I panicked and started to turn around. He’d seen me. As I was about to run the hell out of there, I bumped into Lydia. ”Whoa, hey! Why the hurry?” she laughed. ”He’s here, I just saw him, I need to get out of here” I said. ”Saw who? Where?” she asked. I pointed to the man. She looked at him and shook her head. ”No, honey, that’s a woman” she assured me. I looked, and I realised it was a woman. Shit, I’m losing my mind. ”I don’t think I can do this, Lydia…” I said, I was on the verge of crying now. I felt big knots in my stomach and my anxiety started to really pick up. ”Okay, look at me, Tib. I’m here, I’m not gonna leave you alone. The place is packed, so no one even sees you. You’re part of the huge crowd. You’re having anxiety, it’s normal. But to beat it, you have to work through it. Try for half an hour? If it’s still as bad as now, we’ll go home. Deal?” I looked at her. I forgot she was a nurse. I knew I was safe with her, so I decided to give it a go. And I’m glad I did. We ended up having a great time. I still watched my back, I felt like someone was watching me, but it was just my anxiety. 

Eddie’s POV  
Oh my God, no man has ever cared that much about what he wears on a date. ”What about this one?” Mike asked, showing us yet another shirt. ”You look fine! Just as you did in all the previous ones” I sighed. ”Shut up, Ed. I think it’s cute that he cares a little bit. You should try that sometime!” Jeff said. I punched his arm. ”Dude!” he said, rubbing his arm where I’d hit him. ”Stone?” Mike asked, in desperate need of attention. ”I liked the other one better, the one that goes with your shoes” he answered. I just looked at him. ”What?” he asked. I just shook my head and rolled my eyes. ”Thanks!” Mike said, before he disappeared again. 

Lydia and Tibby were in her bathroom being girls, so Jeff, Stone and I sat in the livingroom waiting for the party to get started. ”Hair looks good, man” Jeff said to Stone. It did look good. Somehow the short hair brought out his features more. His big smile and hazel eyes just popped. I smiled at him and ran my fingers through the unfamiliar cut. 

Mike came out of his room and joined us. ”Shit, I’m nervous” he said. ”Good. You better be on your best behaviour, man” I warned him. ”I will, relax” he said. 

Mike’s POV  
Eddie is such a big brother. It’s actually kind of sweet. But man, is he going to be annoying at times. 

We should get going soon, is she done yet? 

Tibby’s POV  
I acutally look pretty good. ”Let’s get going” Lydia smiled and opened the door. My heart was pounding as I walked out of my room and into the living room. The expression on Mike’s face when he saw me was priceless and it made my so happy. 

Mike’s POV  
My heart just skipped a beat. She looks stunning. Absolutely stunning.

Eddie’s POV  
She cleans up good! Damn it.

Tibby’s POV  
Mike got up from his seat. ”You ready?” he asked. I nodded. He smiled and took my hand. ”Bye guys” he said as we left.


	15. Chapter 15

Mike’s POV  
Wow, this girl is great. We have so much to talk about, it’s like she gets me!

Tibby’s POV  
He is so cute! He just completely charms me. 

Mike’s POV  
We completely forgot about the movie. At dinner we just talked and talked. When the waiter said our reservation was up, we went to the park and walked around and talked even more. When she was cold, I put my jacket around her shoulders and I was a real gentleman. 

I know I’d promised Jeff to be back for the party, but I really didn’t want to. We sat under a tree, and I held her. I rubbed her arms gently to keep her warm. The moon shining, the stars were sparkling. It was just like a movie scene. ”I like this” she said and pulled me even closer.

Tibby’s POV  
He gave me butterflies. Me! Butterflies. We looked up at the stars and tried to find the costellations we knew of, he made me laugh and I felt safe. When he pulled me close and kissed me, I felt like it couldn’t get any more perfect than this. 

Jeff’s POV  
Where the hell are they? They’re missing out on a great party! Everyone’s here. Even Dave, who’s always been kind of an outsider to the rest of us. I’m so happy Matt Cameron decided to come, he brought Cornell with him. 

Mike’s POV  
As we walked back, we held hands. 

”I don’t wanna go back, I wanna spend the whole night with you” Tibby said. ”I know, Tib. We leave on Monday, such bad timing…” I sighed. She put her arms around my waist and put her head on my shoulder. ”I’m gonna miss you” she whispered. I kissed her forehead and agreed. ”I’m gonna miss you too. Please still be here when we get back” I asked her. ”Where else would I be?” Those words felt so good to hear. 

We were right outside the house now. We could hear music blasting through the windows. ”Can I just get one more kiss before we enter the jungle?” I asked, looking at her with the biggest eyes. She giggled and kissed me. 

Lydia’s POV  
Yay, Tibby is back! ”How did it go?” I asked her immediatley when she walked through the door. ”Subtle” Mike laughed and walked inside. ”Oh, it was amazing!” she smiled. 

We got her a drink and sat down. She was about to tell be all about it when Stone came over to us, drunk as hell. ”Did my boy treat you good?” he asked as he sat down beside her. ”He did” she laughed. ”Where’s your boyfriend?” she asked, looking for Eddie. ”I dunno, where’s your boyfriend?” Stone asked. I could tell that question made Tibby uncomfortable, and I figured they hadn’t talked about that yet. Which was understandable, they’d just been on one date. At the same time we all could tell how perfect they were for eachother. ”Why don’t you go find Eddie?” I told Stone. ”Whatever” Stone said and got up. 

Tibby’s POV  
Lydia asked about everything, and I was more than willing to share. It had just been the most amazing night, and I just wanted to scream with joy. 

”Who’s the hottie?” we suddenly heard a voice say. ”Back off, Cornell. She’s my sister” Eddie said right after. I saw a tall man with long curly hair sit down beside me. Eddie came and gave me a hug. He too was wasted. ”Wow, how much have you had to drink?” I laughed. ”Just one! I promise!” he said as he tried to make room for himself on the couch. ”Just one?” I asked suspiciously. ”Yes, one. One bottle of wine” he nodded. ”Ah” I laughed. ”How come she’s hot, but you’re not?” Chris asked teasingly. ”I don’t think Mike would appreciate you flirting with his girl” Jeff suddenly said, and appeared from nowhere. ”Oh, you’re Mike’s girl?” Chris smiled, surprised. 

Mike’s POV  
I was standing in the kitchen making myself a drink. I looked over at Tibby. She was talking to Chris Cornell. She even laughed at his jokes. Damn it… Not that I didn’t trust her, or Chris, for that matter. It just killed me seeing her with a man like Chris. She and him would’ve made way more sense than me and her. 

”Hey, McCready!” someone yelled. I looked around and saw Matt Cameron. He gave me a hug. ”Long time, no see. How are ya?” he asked. I was glad he came over to talk to me, he distracted me from my own thoughts. 

Tibby’s POV  
Chris was so much fun, and he seemed to really be happy for Mike and me. He told me stories about Mike and some of them were just simply hilarious. I looked around for him, and I spotted him in the kitchen with a guy. 

I missed him already, but I didn’t want to seem too clingy. I figured he’d come join us if he wanted to.

As the hours went by, people began to leave. I’d seen no sight of Mike through out the whole party. As the last few people who weren’t staying at our house left, Stone came falling over me. ”Oops, sorry, the floor is moving” he said. He got up and sat down beside me. Eddie joined us and sat down on Stone’s lap. Stone looked at him and frowned. ”Have you noticed Eddie looking like Weird Al when he drinks?” he asked me. ”What?” lo jeg. ”Are you sure he doesn’t look like Weird Al when you drink?” Jeff asked and fell down on the other couch. ”Where’s Mike?” Lydia asked. ”I dunno, I haven’t seen him all night” I admitted. ”That’s weird” Jeff said and got up. He walked across the hall and knocked on Mike’s door. When he didn’t answer, he opened it. When he came back he just shrugged. ”He’s asleep.”

What the hell was going on? We had a great date, it couldn’t have been just me who felt it. We talked for hours, we laughed, we kissed. Then we got back here and he just vanished. Did I do something wrong?


	16. Chapter 16

Tibby’s POV  
I’m probably just overreacting, but I can’t seem to shake off the feeling that Mike’s pissed at me about something. 

My head hurt from going through every single detail about last night, for the hundredth time. We seemed to be having a perfect date, and then we got back here and he totally ignored me. Well, I didn’t exactly glue myself to his side either, but it was just weird. It hurts. 

I decided to get up, I was hungry. I tip toed into the kitchen, hoping not to wake Lydia and Jeff who were passed out on the mattresses in the living room. Once I opened one of the cupboards, I knew I had failed. A mug came crashing down and smashed into dust. ”Great” I sighed. ”What time is it?” Jeff yawned from the living room. I looked at the clock hanging on the wall. ”12:30” I said. ”Ooh, shiiit, I need to get back home to pack!” he said, and jumped up. But as he jumped, he immediately fell right back down. ”Oooh, I think I’m still drunk” he whined. ”No wonder, you were a fucking sponge last night” Lydia said. She’d been woken up by all the noise. 

”You guys want breakfast?” I offered. When they said yes, I decided to ask everyone else if they wanted food. Eddie and Stone had just gotten up as I knocked on their door. Great, now I have to ask Mike. I knocked on his door, but he didn’t answer. I knocked again, this time with more force. Still no answer. I decided to just go in there and ask him, but to my surprise, he’d locked his door. Taken aback, I walked back into the kitchen. ”Is he up?” Lydia asked me. I just looked at her, still in a mild shock. ”I dunno, his door is locked”

Jeff’s POV  
What the hell is he doing? Come to think of it, I didn’t see much of him last night either. He went to bed without saying bye to anyone, and now this? 

”Did something happen last night?” I asked Tibby. She shook her head. ”I can’t think of anything.” I got up and knocked on his door. ”Mike! Open up, it’s me!” I said. Please Mike, answer. Tell me what the fuck is going on. 

When he didn’t answer, I gave up. I was way too hung over to deal with his bs. We were talking about what could’ve brought this on, but none of us had a clue on why he was being like this. ”What about his stomach, was he sick last night?” Eddie suggested. That could just as well be it. Mike had been struggling with his colons for a few years now, and he was in so much pain at times. But he seemed fine, and even though he was embarrassed as hell by his illness, he never shut us out like this. 

Tibby’s POV  
I can’t take this anymore, I need to know what the hell is going on. 

I marched back to his door and was about to knock super hard when the door opened. ”Oh, I was just about to…” knock. He just totally looked through me, like I wasn’t even there. What the fuck, dude. ”Mike?” I said and followed him. ”Hey, there you are. What the hell is going on?” Stone asked. ”Getting coffee” he answered. ”Yes, I can see that. But what the hell happened to you last night? And why was your door locked just now?” Stone continued asking. ”I wasn’t feeling very well, and I wanted to get some sleep without Jeff coming into my room.” Jeff just looked at him, not even knowing how to respond. ”Dude, are you okay?” Eddie asked. ”As ok as I can be” he said, and was about to go back into his room. ”Are you feeling okay? Is it your stomach?” Lydia asked. ”CAN YOU PEOPLE JUST LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE? Thank you” he said and turned on his heels. But I wasn’t about to just let him run off like that, I needed an answer. I ran after him and pulled his arm to have him face me. In the motion, some of his coffee spilled. ”Can you please tell me why you’re acting like this?” I said, annoyed and confused. ”No, just back off! You’re not my girlfriend, I don’t need to answer to you” he spat and disappeared into his room again. I just stood there and looked at him walking away.


	17. Chapter 17

Tibby’s POV  
The guys had been gone for a couple of days now. Eddie called to check in now and then, and it sounded like they were having a good time. I didn’t ask about Mike, and he didn’t mention him. I acted like I didn’t care, but inside it was eating me alive. After watching him walk away like that, I felt sick. I just didn’t understand. Nothing made sense. 

Lydia’s POV  
”Please, babe. Can you just tell her that Mike is totally out of it?” Jeff said to me. We had our usual late night calls. He’d told me about tour so far, and he’d said that Mike seemed unfocused. He’d mess up, which was so unlike him. ”I can try, but I dunno if it’s gonna help much. He was being an ass right before you left, I’m not even sure I wanna talk to Tibby about it. He doesn’t deserve it. Not the way he acted” I said. 

Jeff’s POV  
She was totally right. Mike acted like a total idiot before we left. I tried talking to him on the bus, but he didn’t say much. Stone tried as well, and if Stone didn’t get it out of him, no one could. 

Eddie’s POV  
If he doesn’t get his fucking act together, I’m gonna smash his face in! No, I’m not actually going to do that, but man do I want to. He can’t just treat my sister that way. I’m never gonna forgive him for this. If he hurts her, I swear to God… 

Stone’s POV  
I watched a movie in my hotel room. Eddie was doodling something while he was thinking. He was always thinking, but this time he seemed more worried than usual. ”What’s on your mind?” I asked him as I put my hand on his thigh. ”Can you turn off the movie? The noise is fucking annoying” he said. I muted the TV and looked at him. He sighed and closed his eyes while resting his head agaist the wall. ”Can you please try with Mike again?” he asked. ”Oh, Ed…” I whined. We’d been through this, nothing seemed to help, Mike just did not want to share. ”Please, Stone… He’s screwing us over. He can’t focus, he messes up and he’s a pain in the ass!” Eddie said. He was right. Mike, who never ever messes up, was just totally out of it. I sighed and rubbed my face with my hands. ”Fine, I’ll go…” He grabbed my hand. ”Thank you” he said as he squeezed it and let me go. ”Whatever” I said as I opened the door. 

Dave came out of the hotel room he and Mike shared. ”How is he?” I asked. Dave shrugged. ”Seems pissed” he said and left. Great.

I knocked, but decided to just walk right in. Mike wasn’t gonna open the door anyways. The room was dark, only lit up by a tiny night lamp above Mike’s bed. ”Mike?” I said. He was under the covers, back against me. ”What to you want?” he asked groggy. ”I wanna talk” I said. ”I’m asleep, get out” he said. He was starting to annoy me. I turned on the lights and closed the door behind me. ”Dude, what the fuck?” Mike said. He sat up and looked at me. He was maaad. ”Cut the fucking crap, I have had it with you” I snapped. ”You’ve had it? That’s funny, ’cause I’m the one who can’t get a fucking nights sleep or have a peaceful breakfast without people wanting to talk. What the hell is wrong with all of you?” He looked at me, demanding an answer. ”You know why we wanna talk to you, but you’re acting like a fucking brat!” He got up and turned the lights off before getting into bed. But I was far from done. 

Jeff’s POV  
I was about to go talk to Mike again when I heard him and Stone in there. They were arguing. Good, maybe it actually led to something useful. I knocked on Eddie’s door. He let me in and asked me to close the door. I sat down, not really knowing what to say. ”So, I heard Stone yell at him” I said. ”Yeah, I kinda forced him to try again. I dunno what to do here, Jeff. If Mike doesn’t get his act together, we have to do something. We can’t have a lead guitarist who doesn’t know how to fucking play” he said. I nodded, Mike couldn’t keep doing this. ”What are you suggestin?” I asked. ”Maybe I’m being a fucking retard here, but… Our next show is in two days, yeah? So I fly back to Washington, talk to Tib and get her to come back with me. I think she might be the only one who can talk some sense into him!” I looked at him. Maybe he was right, but as far as I knew, Tibby didn’t even wanna talk about Mike. 

Stone’s POV  
”Look. I don’t know what the hell went down on your date, and I’m not even sure I care at this point. But I do care about this band, this is my baby. And things are going so well. It’s a fucking shame your ego is what’s gonna shake it off it’s orbit. Whatever you decide to do, I support you. But don’t you fucking dare mess this up. Either you quit, or you get off your high horse and try to pretend to care, at least for the rest of the tour.” I was so pissed. I wanted to say that if he didn’t wanna play with us anymore, we could easily replace him. But the truth was, we couldn’t. No one could ever replace Mike McCready. And that fucking scared me. He looked kind of stunned, but I didn’t care. I just turned on my heels and walked out of there.


	18. Chapter 18

Eddie’s POV  
Almost time for landing. Man, I hope this works. 

Jeff’s POV  
Alright, breakfast. Eddie’s almost back home now, I just wish he could call already. I need to know that this is gonna go as planned. 

I sat down besides Stone and Dave. ”Mike still asleep?” I asked Dave. ”I dunno, man… I tried talking to him just before I went down here, but he pretends not to hear me or whatever” he shrugged. ”My God, this has to work. Did you talk to Lydia about it last night?” Stone asked me. The truth was, I was going to. And I almost did, but at the last minute I decided not to. I didn’t want her to talk Tibby out of it, or prepare her for Eddie. ”No, I think it’ll be way more effective if Eddie just shows up there unannounced” I said as I saw Mike come over. ”Morning” I tried. He nodded slightly before he got his food and sat down at a table close by. Jesus… 

Tibby’s POV  
Thank God I had almost a week off from work. I was gonna spend it not thinking about Mike. Maybe I’d just move in with Eddie, this place reminded me way too much of everything. I’d recently come to terms with it all. Mike changed his mind about me and was being a jerk about it. That’s fine. 

I was watching TV when I heard a knock on the door. It got me a little nervous, but no one knew I was here. Maybe it was a salesman. Whatever. I just continued with what I was doing. After a while, the knocking stopped. But I heard the lock on the door open. I jumped up and to my surprise I saw Eddie. ”What? Hey, what are you doing here?” 

Eddie’s POV  
Okay, please, whoever’s in charge of faith or the universe; let this work. ”Hey!” I smiled and gave her a hug. ”What the hell are you doing here?” she asked. ”Look, I need to as you a favor...” Shit, I was nervous. ”Okay, sure” she said, looking confused. I took a deep breath. ”I need you to go back with me, you have to talk to Mike”. I looked at her, and saw her expression shift. ”No” was all she said. She got up and went to the bathroom. Shit. 

I called Jeff as I’d promised. ”Well?” he asked. I had to tell him that Tibby didn’t want to. He tried to convince me to ask her again, and suddently Stone jumped in as well. They knew how to talk me over, so I decided to sit her down and tell her everything. 

Tibby’s POV  
Good one, Ed. I am NOT gonna go with you to talk to him. If you can’t sort that shit out yourself, too bad. But it’s not my problem. Not anymore. 

I sat down besides him. ”How long are you staying for? Want me to cook you dinner?” I asked. ”I’m catching a flight back tonight. Our next show is tomorrow, I need my sleep. But, Tib. You gotta hear me out, please” he begged. Fine. If he’d come all the way from wherever they were playing, it must be important. ”Okay. Bring it”. He told me about Mike’s unpredictable performances, how his mood affected everything and how they all had tried to talk some sense into him. ”…and now we’re kinda lost. We have no clue on what to do. I dunno what happened on your date or at the party or whatever, but if you just could tell him to get a grip…”. He was desperate, I could tell. ”Ugh… Fine” I said. I could at least try, for Eddie’s sake. 

Stone’s POV  
I knocked so hard on Jeff’s door. ”JEFF! Open up! Now!” Where the hell was he? ”What is your problem?” he said as he opened the door. I looked at his bed behind him. Obviously he’d been on the phone with Lydia. Tissue paper, some kind of lube thing and something else that I pretended not to see. ”Sorry, dude” I laughed. He cleaned up his mess as I walked into the room and grabbed a coke from the frigde. ”What’s so important?” He had no idea. I smiled at him. ”It worked. She’s at the airport with Ed now.” 

Jeff’s POV  
Eddie had called from the airport, they should be here by now. Stone, Dave and I were sitting in Stone’s room, just waiting. We talked nervously amongst ourselves. If this didn’t work we didn’t know what to do. So it kinda had to work. It just had to. 

Tibby’s POV  
”I don’t even know what to say to him, Ed”. ”Just tell him to please keep his focus, I dunno.” I really didn’t want to do this, but I’d promised Eddie. He opened the door to his shared room with Stone. The other ones were already there, so I asked them for help on what to actually do here. ”…but you probably should get to it. It’s getting late, and if this ends up taking forever…” Stone was rambling. ”Okay, okay. Could you show me to his room?” I asked. Jeff got up and opened the door for me. He knocked on Mike’s door. ”Mike, open up. We need to talk to you” he said. ”Fuck off, I’m sleeping” Mike answered. Jeff was about to say something, but I stopped him. ”Mike, open up. It’s Tibby”.


	19. Chapter 19

Tibby’s POV  
The door flung open.  
My heart was beating like crazy. I hadn’t spoken to him since the party. Mike looked confused and slighty annoyed. ”What the hell, Jeff?” he spat at him. ”This isn’t Jeff’s fault. Get in, we need to talk!” I said and pushed him back into the hotel room and closed the door.

Mike’s POV  
What the hell is she doing here? Why did they bring her here?

Tibby’s POV  
”What the hell is going on here, Mike?” I yelled. He just sat down on his bed. He shrugged and looked at me. ”What are you doing here?” he asked me instead. ”No, no. Don’t you dare change the subject. Tell me what the hell is going on? I was looking forward to my week off from work, and the first thing that happens is Eddie coming home and asking me to come here to talk some sense into you!” 

On the flight over here I had replayed the whole date/party night scenario over and over again in my head, and I was furious. If he didn’t want to be with me anymore, that was fine. But I deserved an explanation. And the guys deserved the same. ”You could try talking some sense into them instead. All they do is annoy the crap out of me. And now you too?” A comment like that would’ve broken me before, but I was mad as hell now. ”Excuse me? Who the hell do you think you are? You think you can do whatever the fuck you want without any consequeces. But guess what? It doesn’t work that way, Mike! I don’t know what the hell you think you’re doing here, but try to suck it up and do your job! You owe it to them! And by the way, you sure as hell owe it to me to come clean. If you’ve changed your mind about me, that’s fine. But I honestly thought your were better than this. I guess I was wrong! I’ll move my stuff to Eddie’s while you’re away.” I felt the tears filling up my eyes, so I just ran out of there and slammed the door behind me. I almost ran Stone over on my way out. 

Stone’s POV  
She sure as hell can yell at him. ”Tib! Wait up!” But she didn’t want to hear.

Oh, there comes Mike! I’ve never seen him this angry before, what the hell did she say to him? At least she got a reaction.

Mike’s POV  
I have had it! ”Tibby!” I said and pulled her back. She turned around and looked at me. Her eyes were pitch black. ”You can’t just…” I didn’t know what to say to her. At least here, on tour, I could try to forget about her. But seeing her here, hearing her yell at me like that. No one’s ever done that before. ”Back off. I’ve had a long day. I’m going to bed, we can talk in the morning” she said and went into Eddie’s room. We can talk in the morning? 

Stone just looked at me. I could tell he wanted to say something, but he bit his lip and went in after Tibby. 

I just stood there like an idiot. As I started to calm down, it hit me. I’d been such an asshole. She was right, I did owe them all an explanation and an apology. 

Jeff’s POV  
Shit, she’s a mess. This was harder on her than I thought. I offered her my room, I could stay here with Eddie and Stone for the night. Dave, that lucky bastard, had to share room with Mike. Who probably wasn’t that happy with any of us right not. 

Mike’s POV  
Now that she was here, I had to talk to her. This whole thing was killing me, and when she said she’d move… I really fucked this up. I took a deep breath and knocked. Stone opened and gestured for me to come in. ”Tibby, can we talk?” She looked at me. I could see she’d been crying. I’m such a piece of shit. ”Why don’t you talk to all of us? We’ve been trying for days, Mike!” Eddie said. He was not happy, and who could blame him. I just ignored him for now. ”Tib? Please?” She sighed. ”I told you, we can talk in the morning.” I didn’t settle for that. ”No, I wanna talk now. I’m begging you, please?”

Tibby’s POV  
I had forgotten how adorable he was. ”Fine. Your room, I’ll be there in five.” He turned around and left, and I asked myself if I was about to do something stupid now. ”You sure you’ll be okay?” Eddie asked me. I nodded and got up. ”Wish me luck”

Mike’s POV  
Shit, I was nervous now. I had to actually tell her what was going on. It was scary and embarrassing, but I knew I couldn’t keep doing this. When I heard the soft knocks on my door, my heart almost went into overdrive. 

I opened up and let her in. She seemed calmer now, but she could just as well be a vulcano. She sat on my bed and looked at me. ”You want anything to drink?” I offered. ”No, Mike. I want you to tell me why you’ve been acting like this. This is so unlike you, everyone think so. Fuck, Eddie even came back home to get me here. What is going on?” I sat down beside her and stared right infront of me. I was tired. I was about to start talking when I felt tears running down my cheeks. Tibby obviously saw as well, and she sat up and put her arms around me. 

Tibby’s POV  
Ok, so I felt for the guy. Something’s bothering him. Seeing him like this breaks my heart. 

Mike’s POV  
You have no idea how good it felt, being this close to her again, feeling her arms around me. I didn’t deserve it, but right now I just needed to calm myself. ”Talk to me” she whispered. I whiped my face and started from the beginning. ”I had the most amazing date with you. I haven’t had a more perfect date ever. I felt like we really connected, you know?” She nodded. ”But then we got back home, and I saw you with Chris. I saw you with him on the couch”. She just looked at me. ”Saw us on the couch? Mike, you’re making it sound like we made out or something. We just talked”. I knew this was totally irrational, but I couldn’t help it. ”Yeah, you talked. But why did you talk? He tried flirting with you”. As soon as I said it out loud, I knew how stupid I was being. ”Yeah, he did. But that was before Jeff told him I was your girl.” That made me smile ever so slightly. But I wasn’t done. ”But you still sat there, and you even laughed at his jokes or whatever. You had a really good time, and I was just… In the background”. I had never felt more vulnerable in my life. She laughed and shook her head. ”You’re such an idiot” she said. What else is new? ”Look at me, I need you to hear me” she said. I looked at her and met her brown eyes. She was so beautiful. ”I can’t controll what Chris says to me, or what anyone else says to me for that matter. Yes, I laughed at his stories. Because he was telling me stories about you, you dumbass. I enjoyed talking to him, he’s a nice guy. But if you want us to work, you need to trust me”. My head was spinning. ”If… If I want us to work? Like… Want? Not wanted?” I stuttered. She smiled and laughed. ”If this is what’s been bothering you, I don’t see why we can’t get through it. As long as you trust me, you stupid idiot! And you have to be okay with the fact that other guys talk to me. That doesn’t mean anything, we’re just talking.”

Tibby’s POV  
Thank God Eddie convinced me to come here. This was such a trifle, and I’m glad Mike was being honest with me. 

Mike’s POV  
What the hell did I do to deserve her? Nothing, I know. 

I told her about my previous girlfriends and how they’d screwed me over. I didn’t want to be jealous, but I also didn’t want to get hurt. Instead I ended up hurting her. The one thing I promised myself I wouldn’t do. We talked for what seemed like an eternity. 

Stone’s POV  
They’ve been in there for a long time now. 

”Should we knock?” I asked. ”What? No, we can’t do that. He’s finally talking to someone” Eddie said. As we heard a knock on the door, I went over and opened. I was met with a hug from Mike. ”What…?” I said and looked over at Jeff. He shrugged. I just hugged him back. Obviously Tibby knew how to talk to him. ”You’re choking me!” I laughed. He smiled and walked over to Jeff and gave him a hug too. ”You sure as hell came at the right time” Eddie said to Tibby. She looked exhausted but happy. Mike sat down next to Jeff. ”Look, guys… I’m sorry… I dunno what to say, I…” he said. I figured whatever he and Tibby talked about should be between them. ”It’s okay man. Good to have you back” I said.


	20. Chapter 20

Mike’s POV  
I felt so much lighter after my talk with Tibby. But I still felt like the worst person ever. Of course I should’ve trusted her. I should’ve talked to her, I should’ve talked to the guys. I should’ve, I should’ve. Well, now it was out in the open and all I could do now was to focus on our upcoming show. 

”When’s my flight tomorrow?” Tibby asked Eddie. ”Hold on” he said and got up to check the tickets. ”What? You’re leaving tomorrow? You should stay, at least for a few days. You can come see our show tomorrow?” Jeff said. I really didn’t want her to leave either. ”Yeah, you should stay, Tib” Stone said, looking at her with his big eyes. She laughed at him. I wanted to ask her to stay, but I felt I was out of order for asking. After how I’d been acting, I felt I couldn’t ask for much. 

Tibby’s POV  
I really did want to stay. But I wouldn’t agree on it unless Mike asked me to. If it was uncomfortable for him in any way, I’d leave. ”Your flight’s at noon. But it would be really cool if you’d stay” Eddie said. ”I dunno if I can” I said. I gave Mike a quick glance. He just sat there looking at the wall. 

Jeff’s POV  
Shit, it’s early, why is my phone ringing? ”Hello?” I said as I yawned. ”Hey babe, it’s me. Is Tibby still there?” Lydia asked over the phone. ”Yeah, her flight leaves at noon. Why?” I rubbed my eyes and sat up. ”I thought I’d come to see you guys play, and it would be cool if Tibby was there as well” I felt my heart jump. I loved it when Lydia was there in the audience. ”Oh, that’d be great. Ahm, she’s probably still sleeping. Try Ed’s room” I said and looked over my notepad to find the number to his room. 

 

Eddie’s POV  
What the hell is that sound? ”Tib! The phone!” I just couldn’t be bothered and put my pillow over my head. I stretched out only to find myself all alone in my bed. Tibby slept in the other bed, and Stone bunked with Jeff. ”Hello? Oh, hi! You are? I dunno yet, the guys want me to, but…” I heard her say. I figured it was Lydia on the other end. I got up and went in the shower, I was awake now anyways. Tonight’s show better be good, I thought to myself. After the last shows had sucked, we needed this one to be awesome. 

By the time I was done in the shower, I was hungry. Tibby was off the phone and was putting on her makeup. ”How did it go with Mike yesterday?” I asked. I still didn’t understand what went down. First he was pissed, and then he was all huggy and stuff. ”It went fine. We had a good talk. I think he’ll do great at your show tonight” she said as she put her stuff back in her bag. ”He better” I laughed. She gave me a look I didn’t quite read, but I chose to keep my mouth shut.

Tibby’s POV  
Lydia is coming! Then I have to stay. I would love to see the guys live with her. 

I’d never seen them live. According to Lydia, their shows were wild, I was in for a good time. I just hoped Mike didn’t mind me staying. 

Stone and Jeff joined us as we walked down stairs to grab some food. ”Wait up, guys!” we heard someone say. I turned around and saw Dave and Mike. Just seeing Mike made me smile. When he saw me, he smiled too. He was so cute. I told Lydia about last night, and she honestly seemed happy for us.

Mike’s POV  
My gosh how pretty she is. I’m sitting here with her next to me, and all I wanna do is kiss her. I’m hoping I get to kiss her before our show tonight. When she told me she was saying my heart skipped a beat. 

After breakfast I went up to my room to work on some riffs I didn’t quite have yet. Stone joined me. He was the riff meister for sure. All I could think about was Tibby. It made me crazy, but good crazy. ”What’s going on with you two? Did something happen last night?” Stone asked. I shook my head. ”No, she just yelled at me” I smiled. He let out a small laugh. ”It worked” he nodded. ”Are you still seeing each other?” he asked as he tuned is guitar. ”I don’t know. We didn’t get that far. I understand if she doesn’t want to, though” I said, and I could feel my chest ache. ”You didn’t get that far? Yeah, you need to put down your guitar and go talk to her” Stone said and picked up my guitar. ”What, now?” I was confused. ”Yes, now. I don’t want anything to jeopardise our performance tonight. Go talk to her” he demanded. As I opened my door, I heard him say ”And you better find me and tell me all about it after you’re done.” 

I knocked on Ed’s door to see if Tibby might be there. She wasn’t, and Eddie told me that she’d gone with Jeff to pick up Lydia. ”When will they be back?” I asked. ”I dunno, in a couple of hours maybe. Jeff said something about grabbing a bite on their way back”. Great. He could obviously tell I didn’t like his answer. He frowned. ”You wanna come in or something?” I just shrugged but walked past him and sat down. He grabbed me a beer. I usually didn’t drink before a show, but I was too nervous now. Not only did I want to talk to Tibby before the show, but she was gonna be standing there, right in front of me in the crowd. I took a huge sip from the cold glass bottle and sighed. ”What’s up?” Eddie asked. ”Just some stuff… I really shouldn’t be talking with you about it” I laughed. ”Why? Is it about Tib?” I nodded. He nodded too. 

Tibby’s POV  
I originally agreed to grab dinner with Jeff and Lydia, but seeing them together, all kissy kissy, made me think of Mike. I took the bus back to the hotel, I wanted to see him. 

”Mike?” I said and opened the door to his room. I heard the shower, so I figured he was in there. I sat on his bed and picked up his book and started to read. After a little while, the shower turned off and the bathroom door flew open. But it wasn’t Mike, it was Dave. And he was naked. ”Oh shit!” he said and tried to cover himself with the towel he’d put around his long locks. And at that moment Mike decided to come in. ”What the…?” he said. I just sat there in shock. And I thought for sure Mike would flip. But to my surprise he started to laugh. ”Shut the fuck up!” Dave said, pretty annoyed. He’d managed to cover himself up. ”Thanks for not locking the door when you left” he said, glancing at Mike, who was still laughing. Dave grabbed his clothes and disappeared into the bathroom again. ”That was hilarious” Mike laughed and sat beside me on the bed. That was it, I couldn’t hold it in anymore, I started to laugh too. Dave came out, only to see us laying on Mike’s bed laughing our asses off. ”Fuck you” he said and went out the door. 

Mike’s POV  
Hearing her laugh like that, seeing her smile… 

We were laying there, just looking at each other. Looking into her big eyes made me all tingly. ”Hi” I said. She smiled. ”Hi there”. I didn’t know what to say next, so I just watched her. ”Are you nervous about tonight?” she asked. ”A little bit. But being nervous is good, it keeps me focused” I said as I picked up a strand of her hair and played with it. ”I hope it’s okay that I’m coming to see you guys?” she asked carefully. I smiled and nodded. ”Of course. I can’t wait to see you there”. I was excited, but at the same time I was a little scared. Some of the people who came to our shows could be quite aggressive and I’d seen people get shoved here and there and getting pushed and almost knocked over. ”Just… Stay safe, okay?” I said. She looked at me. ”I’ll try my best” she smiled weakly. 

We heard a knock on the door, and Eddie came in. ”Good, you have your clothes on” he joked. ”Hey, Ed” I said slightly annoyed. ”You guys wanna order some food?” he asked. I was kind of hungry so we accepted. ”Great, come by our room” he said and left. I looked at Tibby again. She poked my nose and sat up. ”Come on, you need fuel” she said and pulled me up and off the bed. I smiled and took her hand as we left for Eddie’s room.


	21. Chapter 21

Mike’s POV  
Stone sat on their bed and played with some riffs as we walked in. ”Listen to this, can we use ’em?” he asked me and played them again. ”On what song? Why Go?” I asked and picked up a guitar. Stone nodded and tried something else. I played Stone’s riffs just to see how I felt about them. They sounded pretty fucking good, but I felt like we’d have to ask Jeff for his approval, this song was like his baby. 

The bathroom door opened, and Dave walked out. I could tell Tibby wanted to laugh. ”Oh hey, I didn’t recognize you with your clothes on” I said. ”I swear to God, Mike…” Dave said. ”What?” Stone laughed, confused. ”Tibby was waiting in our room for what she thought was me, and-” I didn’t even get to finish the story before Dave jumped on me to get me to shut up. I fell off the chair and landed on the floor with him on top of me. Tibby was cracking up again. ”You saw him naked?” Eddie laughed. She nodded as she tried to calm herself. ”He just had the best fucking panicked reaction. He came out with a towel wrapped around his hair, and when he saw me he tried to cover up his..” she lauged as she tried to act out the weird movements we’d both witnessed earlier. ”Control your woman!” Dave said and got off me. He was desperately trying to get her to just leave it. ”My woman gets to do whatever the fuck she wants, especially when it involves you getting embarrassed” I laughed back at him. I sat back up and looked at Tibby. She gave Dave a in-your-face-look. ”Can we just order something to eat, please?” he asked. I gave Tibby a fist bump and Dave just shook his head. 

Tibby’s POV  
I was enjoying myself. Hanging out with everyone was such a blast, the food was good, and I couldn’t wait until the show.

We were almost done with dinner when the door opened and Jeff and Lydia came in. With the room being quite small, and us being seven people, it got kind of crowded. ”Mike, get up. We had a long ride, I need to sit” Jeff demanded and tried to pull him up. ”No way, man. I was here first” he said, refusing to move. ”You can have my chair” I offered. ”Sweet!” Jeff said and sat down as I got up. I got a pillow from one of the beds and sat down on the floor. ”Where the hell am I suppose to sit?” Dave asked, and I realised I took his spot while he grabbed himself more food. ”Oh my god, you’re such babies” Lydia laughed and pulled me up off of the floor and pushed me down into Mike’s lap. ”There, you can have your precious spot back!” she laughed at Dave. ”Why is everyone being so mean to me today?” he pouted. ”Huh?” Jeff asked. ”Don’t you fucking dare” Dave spat and looked at Mike and I. Seeing him this embarrassed just made the whole thing even more hilarious. To prevent myself from laughing I hid my face against Mike’s chest. I could feel him struggle to keep it in as well, and he tightened is hold of me just a tad. It made the butterflies wake up.

Stone’s POV  
They’re really cute, aaaw! 

Tibby’s POV  
We sat and talked for a while before the guys had to go get ready. I really didn’t want to move, I was so comfortable in Mike’s arms. The way he carefully rubbed my arm with his thumb, the way he held me so close, the way he rested his cheek agaist my forehead. It all felt so safe. 

Eddie, Stone and Dave were out the door pretty quickly. I just held on to Mike for as long as I could, and it didn’t seem to bother him. He just held me. ”See you later” Lydia said to Jeff and pulled him close. ”Yeah, see you later, babe” he answered and put his arms around her. ”Have a good one. I can’t wait to see you up there” she smiled. He completely melted by her smile and kissed her. I couldn’t help but smile at them. ”I have to get going” Mike said and squeezed my arm gently. ”Do you, really?” I pouted and looked at him with the biggest eyes. ”Oooh, don’t do that to me” he frowned and laughed. Aware of my potential, I just made my eyes even bigger and pouted even more. ”Tib” he whined and rested his forehead against mine. I sighed. ”Fine. I can’t wait to see you, though.” I was actually really excited about it. ”I can’t wait to see you there either” he said and pulled himself away from me just to get a better look at me. ”Just promise me you’ll stay safe?” he asked. I nodded. ”I promise”. He let his thumb stroke my cheek as he looked into my eyes. ”Good. I don’t want anything to happen to you”. The way he said those words made me shiver. He actually ment it. Suddenly he leaned forward and kissed me softly. ”Aaw” we heard Lydia say. I had totally forgotten about them being there. Mike smiled shyly, it seemed he’d forgotten about them too. 

We got up and I let him go with Jeff. I just couldn’t believe what a rollercoaster the last few weeks had been. Now it finally felt like things were going my way.


	22. Chapter 22

Mike’s POV  
”Shit, I’m nervous” I whispered to myself. We were about to get up on stage. I often felt a bit nervous before shows, but I figured that was a good thing. It just ment I really wanted it to go well. But this time around I was nervous for a whole other reason. The last few shows had sucked so bad, and I was scared the rumor was out that we’d lost it. Plus, this was the first time Tibby was goint to see us live, what if the crowd hated on us, and she saw everything? ”Gee, calm down, will you? You’re making me even more nervous” Eddie said and patted my shoulder. ”Sorry” I laughed and tried to breathe. ”Shit, guys! The place is packed!” Stone said. He had this thing that he had to take a look at the crowd before we got up there. ”Awesome! Let’s get out there and kill them, let’s just go out there and get fucking crazy!” Jeff said. He was like a child, he jumped up and down and had way too much energy already. ”Okay, huddle!” Eddie said. We did our usual before-the-show-huddles and walked up on stage. The crowd went wild. I always felt quite humble when I got up on stage. All these people paid to see us, they spent their hard earned money to come spend time with us and I just couldn’t get my head around it sometimes. I looked out on the crowd. So many people. 

I have the best fucking job in the entire world. 

Tibby’s POV  
Oh, here they come! Damn, people are going nuts and they haven’t even started yet. 

Mike’s POV  
I promised myself I would look for Tibby, I didn’t want it to throw me off my game, but I couldn’t help it. Luckily I found her pretty quickly. She was standing right in front of the stage with Lydia. She’d changed clothes since I last saw her, she’d done something to her hair and she put on makeup. I honestly thought she looked beautiful without it, but she just looked hella gorgeous tonight. ”Are you ready to fucking party?” Eddie yelled into is microphone. They obviously were and I had to smile. We had the best fans. As Jeff did his magic on Even Flow’s into, people started to jump. This type of energy was my fuel, I lived for this. My fingers knew the chords and the riffs were just coming out. 

Tibby’s POV  
They’re so fucking awesome! Look at them go! No wonder people come see their shows, this is amazingly good! And Mike, holy cow. I’m not even sure if he’s aware that he gives the crowd these insane jolts everytime he touches those strings. 

Jeff’s POV  
Holy shit, Mike’s definitely back! My boy can fucking play!

I couldn’t help myself, I was so relieved Mike was back, I jumped over to him and planted a big kiss on his cheek. I was really worried for a while, we all were. He laughed and jumped to my beats. We always had such a blast up there, and with crowds like this one, man oh man, I’m so glad Stone and I didn’t give up. I missed Andy, though. I couldn’t help but think how different things would’ve been if he didn’t pass away. If his dumb ass didn’t OD. I never said it out loud, but I was so angry at him for doing that to himself. And to his mother and to Xana. At the same time, he wasn’t well. He struggled with something and it had to play itself out some way or another. I was so thankful for what I had now. We were a better band than Love Bone ever was. Stone was right, we should’ve been there, been the band for him. Life is such a weird thing, all these incidents have such huge consequences. I wouldn’t have met Eddie if it wasn’t for that tragedy back then. When we spoke on the phone after we got his Momma-Son demo, the two of us connected right away. This was something he’d been waiting for, and when I met Ed, I knew it was something I’d been waiting for also. 

Eddie’s POV  
”You people are fucking beautiful! It’s time for us to wrap it up, we have one more song on our setlist for tonight. Help me make it count!” As soon as I said those words, people started screaming their lungs out. Stone started to play the intro to Alive. I never wanted to finish a show with that song, but tonight was different somehow. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but tonight it just fit. 

Tibby’s POV  
Oh, shit. I had a love/hate relationship with this song. I loved every word of it, Eddie told the story so well. You could feel the hurt in his voice and I’m sure everyone in this room had chills as he started to sing. I also hated it. Our piece of shit father really hurt him. I never got to meet him, but Eddie did a few times. It must’ve been just horrible to learn that the guy he thought was is father was just a guy, and the guy the thought was just a guy, was his father. It must’ve been so confusing and painful to a kid. ”Wait, what is he doing? Lydia?” I shouted as I saw Eddie starting to climb. ”Oh not, not again!” she yelled back. ”I get so freaking nervous everytime he does that!”

He just keeps on climbing. Where the hell is he going? 

I started to panic. The band just kept playing, I’m sure they knew it was no stopping him. Oh my god, he almost lost his grip! I just couldn’t watch. I turned around and looked up on stage. Mike caught my eye and he could see how stressed out I was. I just shrugged and shook his head at me. ”He’s gonna jump!” Lydia said. ”WHAT?” I said and turned around to see. There he was, standing on the edge of something just looking down at us, deciding where the aim his jump.

As he let himself fall, I closed my eyes. The crowd started screaming in pure joy and I opened my eyes to see them carrying him back towards the stage. I’m going to fucking kill him. 

As they finished the song I had totally forgotten how mad I was. His stunt made the crowd go even more wild. These guys knew how to put on a show. I was so impressed and so proud. 

As Lydia and I walked back to our hotel I saw someone in the corner of my eye. I turned my head, but they were gone. ”Who are you looking for?” she asked. I didn’t really know to be honest. ”No one, I just thought I saw someone” I said. I was so sure I saw long, brown/black hair. I guess I was tired and my mind was playing me. 

Stone’s POV  
Aaah, that was awesome! It was so much fun. Just being up there, everything felt right and Mike fucking did he’s job so well tonight. I pulled him into a huge hug. ”Ow, get off me, man!” he laughed and tried to get away from me. ”You did so good!” I shrieked. He laughed and pushed me off. 

Mike’s POV  
If I could say so myself, I rocked up there. I’d secretly been watching Tibby, and seeing her enjoying herself just made my day. I couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel and see her.

Tibby’s POV  
I sat on Mike’s bed, I just wanted him to get back so I could tell him how proud I was of him. I had so much I wanted to say, but it took forever for them to get back, so I fell asleep.

Mike’s POV  
Tibby’s probably hanging out with Lydia. I’m gonna take a quick shower and go find her. ”Yeehaa!” Dave shouted as he hopped up on my back. I laughed and tried not to fall as I opened the door. ”Oh, shh” I said when I saw Tibby on my bed. ”Oh maaan, she’s sleeping? I can’t watch TV then” Dave whined. ”No, you can’t. Go ask Jeff if you can watch TV in their room” I suggested. ”No, it sounded like he and Lydia had some plans. If you know what I mean. I’ll try Ed’s” he said and turned around and left. 

”Tib? You asleep?” I asked. Doh, of course she was, I could see her, she was right there. I decided to let her sleep and went into the bathroom and took a shower. As I stood there, tonight’s show kept playing in my head. We had such a good one tonight, I was proud of us. I was exhausted, but also way too hyped up to be able to sleep tonight. ”Mike?” I heard Dave yell from outside of the bathroom. What the heck, Tibby was sleeping. I put a towel around my waist and opened the door. ”Why are you yelling?” I spat at him. ”Oops, sorry” he whispered. I just shook my head. ”Well? What was so important?” I asked. ”Mike?” I heard Tibby yawn from across the room. ”I’m so sorry I woke you up” Dave said to her. I went back inside and got dressed. 

When I came back Tibby and Dave were eating chips and talking. I felt the jealousy creep up on me, but I’d promised I’d trust her. ”What’s up?” I asked him as I sat down next to Tibby. ”Eddie and Stone. They didn’t lock the door, and, well…” he said as he shrugged and put another handfull of chips in his mouth. ”Ew!” Tibby exclaimed and made a face. ”Ew?” Dave laughed. ”Sex isn’t ew” he winked. ”When it involves my brother, it is”. 

We watched a little TV and just hung out. I was annoyed at Davem why did he have to be here right now? I wanted Tibby all to myself. I smiled weakly when I felt her grab my hand and intertwine her fingers with mine. She turned and looked at me. She studied my face, I could tell. I felt self consious and coughed a little. She didn’t move her eyes from me and I felt warm inside. And I started to feel a little horny. ”Dave? Don’t you have some place to be?” I asked. ”What? No, I’m going to bed soon” he said as he watched the stupid show that was on. ”No, I think you have somewhere else to be right now” I repeated. He looked at me. Suddenly he got what I ment and was out the door. ”Sorry about him” I said to Tibby. She laughed and pulled me down and kissed me.


	23. Chapter 23

Tibby’s POV  
Now that Dave was gone, I thought I’d tell Mike how well he did tonight. But kissing him was addicitive, I couldn’t seem to stop. The way he held me made me feel so safe. I moved a little closer to him and felt him do the same. He stroked my arm so gently and started to move his hand further down. Down my side, on my hip and on my ass. The last time someone felt me up like that, was when Ben pimped me out. I was suddenly very aware of what was going on and I jumped up. Poor Mike, he looked confused, but I just couldn’t. ”Did I hurt you?” he asked. I shook my head and felt my tears piling up. ”Hey… Hey, it’s okay” he said comfortingly and put his arms around me. ”I’m so sorry, I won’t do it again. I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry” he whispered. To see him genuinely care about me absolutely melted my heart and I just held him close. 

Mike’s POV  
Shit, Mike. You’re such an idiot. You scared her.

”I’m sorry” she whispered. ”About what?” I asked. I looked at her, and I could see fear. Straight up fear. The same type of fear I saw the day she came back, and I just hated myself for doing that to her. ”About me reacting like this. I just… YOu have no idea how much I want to… But I can’t. I’m so scared, Mike” she cried. It broke my heart seeing her like this. ”What can I do to make you feel better?” I asked. ”Just hold me and tell me it’s gonna be okay”. I put my arms around her and held her close. Closer than ever. ”I promise you it’s gonna be okay. Trust me, baby”.

Tibby’s POV  
Did he just call me baby? Aaaw. 

”Thanks. I wanna tell you what happened, but I can’t do it yet. I don’t have the strength, I’m gonna completely break down” I cried. ”Shh, don’t worry about it. I’ve got all the time in the world. I’m here, just let me know when you’re ready. I’m not going anywhere” he said and kissed my forehead.

Mike’s POV  
She didn’t have to tell me if she didn’t want to, but it felt good that she trusted me enough to even consider telling me. I felt her body relax and realised she was about to fall asleep again. ”Hey… Did you just call me baby?” she whispered. ”Yeah, that okay?” I smiled. She smiled tiredly and nodded. ”You have an early flight tomorrow. Get some sleep, baby” I said and kissed her goodnight.


	24. Chapter 24

Mike’s POV  
Almost time for our last show this tour. It’s been a fricking blast. Time’s gone by so fast, I can’t believe we’re about to wrap it up. 

I loved playing, loved seeing people enjoy what we put out there. But to be honest with you, I couldn’t wait to sleep in my own bed, to take a shower in my own bathroom. Even doing my own laudry. I was afraid I was gonna buy into the rock and roll myth, I wanted to keep my feet on solid ground, so all these little things were appreciated.

”What would you like for dinner?” Tibby asked. Ever since she and Lydia went back to Washington, we’d been talking over the phone every night. Now she was planning a welcome-home-dinner for me. I told her, once again, that it wasn’t necessary, but she insisted. And it did feel good to have her care so much for me. ”I dunno, whatever you come up with will be great, babe” I smiled. ”I can’t wait to see you. It’s empty here without you” she said, and I couldn’t help but smile again. ”I can’t wait either. I think we’ll have to place to ourselves, I overheard Eddie inviting Stone back to his place”. I instantly regretted saying that, I didn’t want her to get the wrong impression. After what happened that night in my hotel room still haunted me. I was just really glad she reacted when she did. What if I’d gone even further? ”Mike! Get your ass moving!” I heard Stone yell from the other side of the door. ”Ugh… I have to go” I whined. ”Oh, already?” I heard her say, disappointed. I looked at my watch. We’d been talking for over two hours already! ”I’m sorry, I have to” I apologized. We said goodbye and hung up. Man, I missed her so much. 

Tibby’s POV  
It was the night before the guys got back, and Lydia and I decided to have a girl’s night at my place. We had trashy magazines, chocolate and wine. She was sitting on the couch, about to order us a pizza. ”No pineapple, right?” she asked. ”What, are we psychopaths? Of course no pineapple” I said. I didn’t trust people who put weird stuff on their pizzas.

I loved hanging out with her. I never had friends growing up, people always found me weird. I was, in their eyes, never good enough for anything. I was the tag-along, I was the one who always got picked last in gym, I was the one who never got invited to a birthday party. I convinced myself I didn’t need others, I was better off on my own. But sitting here with Lydia, I realised what I’d been missing out on. And I was really happy she was my friend. 

”What happened with you and Mike after the show?” Lydia asked and took a bite of her pizza. ”What do you mean?” What did she mean? Did she hear something? ”I dunno, I didn’t see you for the rest of the night, and we bumped into Dave who said Mike kicked him out” she laughed. ”Ah. Well, nothing happened. We just talked. And slept.” I said. I didn’t want to mention my freaking out. ”Sounds nice. But, have you…?” she asked at looked at me carefully. ”Whaat?” I laughed. I knew exactly what she ment, but I wanted her to say it. Only then could I be sure not to make a fool out of myself. ”Have you had sex yet?”

I knew she was going to ask me that, but she still caught me off guard. ”No, we haven’t” I said. I was kind of embarrassed. I’d never talked about sex with anyone before. ”I’ve been meaning to ask, how are you after… You know?” she said, and she seemed uncomfortable. ”After Ben?” She nodded. ”I’m scared. I feel like he’s spying on me. I’ve been seeing him in random places, or at least I think I’ve been seeing him. Maybe it’s my mind who’s playing tricks on me. We… Mike and I… We were kissing, and he started to touch me. It felt nice, but suddenly I just panicked. I feel so bad, he didn’t do anything wrong, he wasn’t inappropriate or anything like that, he just touched my back. And I flipped” I confessed. ”Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear. If you need someone to talk to, I can find you someone?” she offered. I shook my head. ”No thanks. I wanna see if I can work through it on my own”. I really didn’t want to talk to a stranger about all this. ”Okay. Let me know if you change your mind. But, if you wanna do this by yourself, you’re gonna have to talk to Mike. He needs to know where your boundaries are” she said. I was planning on telling Mike as much as I felt comfortable with, but hearing her saying the same thing I’d been thinking about, made me nervous. She was right though. If I wanted Mike and I to work, I needed to be honest with him.

Mike’s POV  
Yes, finally home! It’s been a long day. You would think I’d get used to all the travelling, but I just found it so stressful every single time. 

As I opened the door, a delicious smell met me. ”Miiiike!” I heard Tibby shriek and I barely managed to put down my bags before she threw her arms around me. ”Hey, babe!” I laughed and picked her up. ”Mmmm, it feels so good to be back home!” I sighed as I held her close. ”It feels so good to have you back” she said with her face hiding agains my neck. ”It smells great in here” I said, and I suddenly felt really hungry. ”Oh, right! Food, come on!” she smiled and pulled me with her into the kitchen. She’d made lasagna, and it was so so good. 

During dinner I told her all about tour, and she seemed interested. She laughed at my jokes and just felt so lucky. 

After dinner we sat down and watched a movie. She was cuddled up against me, and her soft breathing and gentle touch made me so tired. Before I knew it, I was gone. 

Tibby’s POV  
Shit, he fell asleep. If he’s anything like me, I won’t be able to wake him up to get him to his bed. He’s gonna be so uncomfortable here, though. ”Mike?” I whispered. No response. ”Miiike?” I said, a little louder this time. He shifted a bit, and I tried pulling him up. ”Mike, honey. Let’s get you to bed” I said. He opened his eyes and looked at me. ”You called me honey” he smiled. ”Oh, yeah. I guess I did”. I couldn’t help but smile. He stretched and got up to get into bed. I figured he just wanted to sleep, so I watched him walk tiredly in direction of his room. I heard him open his door and walk inside. 

I continued watching the movie when he suddenly was back. He was in his boxers now. ”You coming, or what?” he yawned. ”Huh? Oh! I’ll be right there” I smiled and turned off the TV. 

When I closed the door to his room, I saw him under the covers. I smiled, he looked so adorable. I crawled up against him and put my arms around him. ”You sleeping with all your clothes on again?” he asked. Come to think of it, the few times we’d been sleeping next to each other, I always had my clothes on. I felt a bit nervous as I pulled off my jeans and unbuttoned my shirt. But Mike looked at me like I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. I was slightly embarrassed by it, but in a good way. Never had anyone looked at me like that before. I’d had men look at me with disgusting lust, but this was nothing like that. I felt warm, and for the first time in a long time, I felt something that reminded me of being turned on.


	25. Chapter 25

Mike’s POV  
Never underestimate the feeling of waking up in your own bed. It felt so good to be able to sleep in for a change. To wake up and not have any plans. 

I tried stretching out, but felt someone close to my side. I looked over and saw Tibby sleeping. Last night was just wonderful. She’d made me a delicious dinner, we talked for what seemed like forever, and we fell asleep in each other’s arms. I looked over at her. She looked like a beautiful painting. Her details were mesmerizingly gorgeous, I could just look at her forever. I was hoping I got the chance to do just that. 

I let my thumb trace her pinky rose lips carefully. She twitched at opened her eyes. ”Hi there, Sleeping Beauty” I smiled. Then I laughed at myself for making such a cheesy comment. ”Hey” she smiled back. Suddenly her eyes got big at she shot up. ”What time is it?” she asked and grabbed my wrist to take a look at my watch. ”Fuck!” she whispered and pulled the covers off. ”What?” I yawned. I was still too tired for that kind of speed. ”I overslept, I’m suppose to be at work in 30 minutes!” she panicked. ”Slow down, I’ll take you” I said and got up. ”Oh, it’s your first morning back, you don’t have to be driving me around. I’ll catch the bus” she said as she opened my door. ”Hey! I get to decide how I wanna spend my first morning back, right? I wanna take you to work” I smiled. She sighed and nodded before she went into her own room. 

In the car she finally managed to relax. She ate her breakfast and looked out the window. ”How long is your shift today?” I asked her. ”I get off at 5:30” she said as she chewed her sandwich. ”Alright, I’ll be there to pick you up for dinner” I gently smiled. She smiled and put her hand on my thigh. ”Thank you, honey” she teased. Before we fell asleep last night, I’d mentioned her calling me honey before, it made me feel wanted. I smiled and squeezed her hand before shifting gears.

Tibby’s POV  
After a rather stressful start to the day, it was now lunch. I was just about to pay for my food when someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around and saw Lydia smiling back at me, and Jeff was standing behind her in line. ”Oh, hey guys! Having lunch?” I asked. ”Yeah, you wanna join us?” Lydia asked. Of course I wanted to. After working there for a couple of months, you’d think I’d gotten to know some of my colleagues, but they seemed pretty close with each other, so it was hard to reach out to them. They were nice, though. Thank god. 

Lunch was nice. Jeff was such a great guy, and he was so good for Lydia. He was funny and smart, he was artsy and into skateboarding and basketball. He was actually pretty good at basketball from what I’d heard. ”Oh, you eat fish?” he asked me. ”Uhm.. Yeah, why?” I laughed. ”We’re having fish tonight”. I just looked confused at him. ”She’s been at work all day, she doesn’t know we’re having them over, dumb ass!” Lydia laughed. ”Excuse me? Dumb ass?” he laughed back and tickled her side. ”We’re having dinner with you?” Jeff and Mike had obviously talked over the phone. I was hoping to spend the night alone with Mike, but if we had to spend it with someone else, Lydia and Jeff would be my first choice. ”I told him you could ride back with us when Lydia’s off work, but he insisted on picking you up” Jeff laughed. ”Aw, that’s so sweet” Lydia smiled. 

The last half of my shift seemed to rush by. There was so much to do, and people kept stopping by the get a snack while waiting or visiting. I liked my job, there was never a dull moment, I always had something to do, and it felt nice to be able to meet people. It made me sad too, though. I saw families completely torn apart by the loss of a loved one, I saw people confused at devastated, I saw people looking like ghosts, like shadows. It made me appreciate my health on a whole other level. 

As I walked outside to meet Mike, I got a chilling feeling. I felt I was being watched. I was so sick of feeling like this, I knew it was only my imagination, but it still scared the crap out of me. Without even noticing it, I started to pick up my pace. As I pushed open the big door that led out to the parking lot, I looked behind me. Shit, I was actually losing my mind. There was no one there. Or was there? Wasn’t that long, dark hair? Get it together, for fuck’s sake Tibby! 

My heart was racing as I opened the door to Mike’s car. ”Hey babe!” he smiled at me. But when he saw what state I was in, his expression immediately changed. ”What’s wrong?”. All I could do was try to fight back the tears, but even that failed. Mike pulled me into a hug and just comforted me. ”Something happen?” he asked after a while. ”No, I’m just going crazy. I keep thinking Ben is around, even though he isn’t. I see him everywhere, and it’s so exhausting” I sniffled. ”Shit, Tib. I’m so sorry. You know I’m here for you if you ever wanna talk, right?” he said with a gentle tone. I nodded and smiled. ”Yeah, I know. Thanks”. He gave me a weak smile and wiped my tears with his sleeve. ”You wanna go to Jeff’s or do you wanna go home?” he asked as he started the engine. ”We can go to Jeff’s” I nodded. Honestly I didn’t want to, but it might still be nice after all. ”You sure? Anything you wanna talk about that can make this easier for you?” he asked. I liked that he cared so much, I wasn’t used to that. ”There was one thing, maybe…” I hesitated. ”Sure, tell me” he said, looking at me as to make sure he didn’t puch me into telling him stuff I wasn’t ready to share yet. ”I haven’t gotten my kiss yes” I said shyly. ”Oh, where are my manners?” he laughed, relieved, and pulled me into a soft kiss. 

Mike’s POV  
It just killed me knowing Tibby was having a hard time. I just wanted to find that piece of shit and just murder him. And then kick his sorry ass into jail. 

Now we were sitting in Jeff’s livingroom after the best salmon I had ever had. It was quite funny, when things started to pick up with Mookie Blaylock back in the day, we had an agreement that we would give each other space once we got off tour and stuff, but we never gave each other space. We hung out all the time. I think that made us bond even closer. 

”You okay? You look tired” Lydia asked Tibby. ”I’m okay now, I just had a scare when I was leaving the hospital. I keep imagining Ben being there. I can go on about my day, having no triggers at all, and then all of a sudden, I see his face somewhere. It’s so scary, not to talk about annoying” she said. I just held her hand even tighter to show her that she was safe with me. ”Shit, that sucks, man” Jeff sighed. ”Yeah, it does” Tibby nodded. ”It sounds like you have PTSD, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what it is. If you want, I can try finding some information on it for you?” Lydia offered. ”You could do that? That’d be helpful, thank you” Tibby said. PTSD… I’m so gonna kill that motherfucker. Just you wait.

It got pretty late, so Lydia offered us the guestroom to which we accepted. It was no point in going back home now, and we both just wanted to sleep. Tibby had the next day off, so we could even sleep in if we wanted to. Before we went to sleep, we made plans to go to the movies the next day. I did owe her a movie, the last attempt went in the pooper. I once again fell asleep with her in my arms. I could most definitely get used to this. 

Tibby’s POV  
I felt so safe. I rested my head on his chest and listened to his heartbeats and felt his calm breathing. I made me fall asleep right away.


	26. Chapter 26

Eddie’s POV  
Now that tour was over, I was content. Talk about awesome tour, and besides the first couple of shows, we absolutely did our job. But now were being bombarded with interview requests, and I didn’t feel it. Why would people wanna read about our otherwise boring lives? Why would they wanna know so many unuseful things about us? We did do a few interviews here and there, and that was fine. But the media kept fabricating crap about us, and I just wanted to tell them to go fuck themselves. 

I’d just gotten a call from Time magazine, they wanted to do a story on us. No way in hell. I was pissed, because the lady I talked to, implied we were gonna be featured anyway, they just wanted to check if we had any comments on the storyline. 

I slammed the door to Stone’s place and marched up the stairs. ”What’s going on?” he laughed from the livingroom, where he was reading a book. ”Fucking Time magazine again” I growled. ”Again? Man, they never seem to quit, do they?” Stone sighed. ”Come here, I’ll make you feel better” he smiled and reached out for my hand. I took the offer and got pulled close to him. He had this weird way of always calming me down. ”Are we alone?” I asked and looked up at him. ”Yeah, I think Mike took Tib to the movies or something” he said as he looked over to Mike’s room, as if his vision could see through walls. ”Why?” he asked and looked at me with a spark in his eyes. ”No reason” I smiled and kissed his shoulder. ”You sure?” he laughed as his fingers ran through my curls. ”You wanna take a shower with me?” I teased. ”Always!”

Mike’s POV  
I didn’t matter that the movie sucked. Me and Tibby sat in the back and made out through out the whole thing. I usually was never that guy. The guy who just had to make out with my girlfriend in the movie theater. But with Tibby, all my usual ways completely changed. I just couldn’t get enough of her, I wanted to spend all my time with her. Not only was she gorgeous, but she was so cool. 

After the movies, we went for a walk. It was getting dark, but the temperature was still nice. 

I noticed she being nervous, she kept looking around her to make sure we were alone. ”Hey” I said and took her hand. ”Sorry, I just can’t seem to shake it off” she apologized. ”I understand. But look at me… No one is following us. And you’re safe with me, I won’t let anyone hurt you. I promise. Trust me” I said. She nodded and turned slightly away. I could tell she was about to cry. ”Hey, babe…” I said comfortingly and put my arms around her. She hid her face against my neck and I could feel her tears on my skin. ”I’m so sorry. I hate that I feel this way. I just keep ruining everything” she cried softly. ”What are you talking about? Ruining? You haven’t ruined anything. I knew you came with baggage when I first told you I liked you. If you’ll let me, I’ll carry the baggage with you, you don’t have to do it alone” I whispered. She just held me even closer. 

Tibby’s POV  
Maybe this was the moment. Maybe I was suppose to tell him everything now. ”Can we go home? We need to talk” I asked. I could feel him nod. I straightened myself and took his hand as we started to walk towards the house. ”I just want you to know that you don’t have to tell me anything you’re not comfortable with” he stated. ”I know. But a lot of this shit is uncomfortable anyways, so I just have to give it a shot. I probably should talk to Ed about some of this too”.

He put his arm around me and kissed my cheek. ”If I do decide to tell Eddie, could you come with me?”   
He gave me a friendly smile and nodded. ”Of course”. 

When we got home, Mike fixed me a cup of tea. I sat on the couch dreading this.   
I took a deep breath as Mike sat beside me and handed me the cup. I wanted to tell him everything, but I was so ashamed. I felt dirty and useless. I thought it was going to be so hard, but once I opened my mouth, everything kept coming out. I told him about absolutely everything. Even when I cried so hard my stomach ached, I kept going. Even when I felt I was gonna throw up, I didn’t stop. And even when I was about to pass out from the stress of it all, I just kept talking. Mike held my hand, he never let go. I could tell he was devastated, but he tried to be strong for me. Although eventually, he started to cry too. 

Mike’s POV  
I didn’t even know what to say. I had no idea it was this bad. Of course, I knew she’d been raped, but to this extent. I felt sick to my guts, I couldn’t get my head around what made these men do this. What the hell drove them to hurt another person, to just keep going even though she begged them to stop? Drugs? Twisted psychopathic urges? I don’t think I’d ever understand it, even if I tried. 

I just held her, and after a while I felt her body lay heavy against my side. She was sleeping. I didn’t want to wake her up, so I just let her be.

Eddie and Stone came out from Stone’s room, looking pretty happy. ”Shh” I told them, I didn’t want anything to wake Tibby up. ”Everything alright?” Stone asked, he could immediately tell that something was up. I had no idea how he did that, but he always could tell if someone was upset. ”I dunno” I sighed. Both Stone and Ed sat down in the opposite couch. ”She told me about what happened when she was away” I said. ”Was it bad?” Eddie asked me. I could tell he was pretty nervous about my answer. ”Yeah. It’s just heartbreaking… I don’t wanna say anything, she said she wanted to talk to you about it herself” I said, looking at him. ”Shit… Okay, whenever she’s ready” he said, and started to shake his leg fast up and down stressfully. Stone put his hand on Eddie’s knee to calm him. ”Sorry” he mumbled. ”Thank you for being there for her, Mike” Eddie said. ”Don’t mention it. Of course I’m here for her”.

Tibby’s POV  
I woke up to the sound of Mike’s voice. I opened my eyes and saw Eddie and Stone on the other couch. I stretched out and yawned. My head hurt really bad, so I twitched when my eyes felt they’d been stung. ”Hey” Mike spoke softly. ”Hey. I fell asleep” I said and sat up. ”You did. You okay?” 

Was I okay? I didn’t even know anymore. ”My head hurts”. Eddie got up and got me some painkillers and a glass of water. ”Thanks. Look, Ed… I just told Mike about…” I said. ”I know, he told us” Eddie answered. I looked at Mike. ”Oh, no… He didn’t tell us what you told him, but he told us you talked about it, that’s all” Eddie quickly explained. ”Oh, okay. I wanna talk to you about it too, can we do that?”   
”Yes, just let me know. Whenever you’re ready”.

It was late, and I was exhausted. We made plans to hang out the next day, after my shift. Right now, all I wanted to do was go to bed. ”You wanna come with me?” I asked Mike. He looked a bit uncomfortable, Eddie was right there. ”Don’t worry about it” Eddie smiled. ”Oh. In that case, yes” Mike laughed and got up. 

Once in bed, I felt more comfortable. The headache had started to go away and I had more energy. Mike crawled under the covers next to me. ”What are you thinking about?” He knew me well already.  
”If I tell you, will you promise not to laugh at me?” I asked. ”Why would I laugh at you?”. I had no idea how to say it, so I just said it. ”I wanna have sex”. I took him by surprise. ”Oh!” was all he could respond with. ”Not right now, but… Eventually. I’m just really scared. I don’t want it to hurt”. Mike sat up and took both my hands in his. ”I don’t want you to wanna have sex because you think that’s something I want”. I shook my head. ”That’s not why”.  
”Okay. With that said, I want you to feel comfortable with it. We’ll take it as slow as you need. And even then you can tell me to stop. I’ll stop, I promise you”.

I didn’t know what to say. I hadn’t thought that much about it to be honest. I just knew I wanted to share that kind of intimacy with him. I knew I never was going to enjoy it, but I wanted to do this for him.


	27. Chapter 27

Stone’s POV  
Tibby was at Eddie’s. They were going to have dinner and talk about everything, so Mike and I hung out at home. We always had such a good time hanging out with each other. ”How did it go with Tibby after you went to bed last night?” I asked him. ”She was tired. The headache let go, but she was just exhausted”

Yeah, no wonder. I bet it absolutely drained her telling Mike about all the crap those assholes did to her. I felt sorry for him, too. Getting to know what had happened must’ve been terrible, I don’t think I’d be able to listen to it all. I was happy she had him. He was just the sweetest guy ever, he would never hurt her, not on purpose at least.

”How are things with you and Eddie?”  
It ment a lot to me that he wanted to know, that he actually cared. ”Things are good. We have a lot of fun together” I smiled. ”Oh, I know what that means” he laughed. ”Well… Can you blame me? The guy is hot!” Oops, I didn’t think of the fact that Mike wasn’t into guys. How the hell would he know if Eddie was hot or not? ”Uhm… I guess. He’s way out of your league, that’s for sure!”   
He did not just say that. ”What the hell? Shut up!”   
I couldn’t help but laugh. Mike was right, he was way out of my league. But despite that, he was mine. Just mine. 

”What about you and Tib? Anything fun going on there?” I asked before I could even stop myself. Shit. ”Nothing sexual, no. And that is totally fine with me. I don’t wanna push her. Remember when she came to see us on tour? We were fooling around, and I put my hand on her hip. It freaked her out”.  
”Oh no, that sucks. Do you think she’ll ever be able to…?” I didn’t mean to be nosy, but I was. Mike shrugged. ”I dunno. We just have to wait and see. I’m hoping she’ll be able to. Not for my sake, but for her own sake. I don’t want those bastards to win, she gets to run her own life”. Mike was so right about that. 

Tibby’s POV  
On the car ride back home, we didn’t speak. We had a really good talk after dinner, and even though I didn’t tell him everything, Eddie appreciated me sharing at least some of it. It felt good for me too, the more people knew, the easier it was for me to carry the weight of it. ”Hey, is it okay if I talk to Stone about this?” he asked. I thought about it for a second. ”Sure”

”Tib, Lydia’s on the phone for you” Stone said as we walked through the door. I ran up the stairs and gave Mike a quick peck on the lips before I took over the phone. She wanted to hang the next day, so we agreed that she come by here. The boys were having band practice anyways. 

The next morning Mike woke me as he got up to get dressed. ”Morning”.  
”Oh no, I woke you. I’m sorry, go back to sleep, baby” he said and kissed my forehead. ”No, it’s fine. I’m meeting Lydia soon. I better get up too. When do you have to be out the door?” He checked his watch. ”In about an hour. Why?”  
”I’m making us pancakes!”

As I started on breakfast, Stone and Eddie joined too. Stone was a bit upset I didn’t tell them I was making pancakes, and he made me make some for them as well. I didn’t mind, it was just amusing to see him act like a man-child. 

As it was time for them to leave, Mike pulled me close to him. ”I’ll miss you” he whispered. ”I’ll miss you too”. ”When I get back, I’m cooking us dinner, so you better be hungry” he winked. ”Can I have dinner too?” Stone asked. ”Nope, sorry. Eddie can make you something” Mike answered. ”I’ll feed you, don’t worry” Eddie smiled teasingly. Mike kissed me goodbye, and I just couldn’t wait ’til he got back. 

Since I mentioned it to Mike the night before, I’d thought about us having sex. ”Hey, Lydia… You and Jeff have sex, right?” I asked nervously. ”Yes, we do” she laughed. ”Why? Have you and Mike had sex yet?” I shook my head. ”No. I’m still scared. I told him about everything last night, though. And he still wants to be with me, so maybe he won’t be disgusted with me like I thought he would”. She looked confused. ”Why would he be disgusted? You haven’t done anything wrong, Tib. Those men, they’re disgusting. You’re not. At all”. I wasn’t so sure. If I wasn’t, then why did I feel like it?   
”Have you told Mike you wanna have sex?”  
”Yes. I did, last night. He was so sweet about it. He told me we’ll go as slow as I need, and he’ll stop as soon as I tell him to. He’s a good guy”. 

It was nice spending the day with Lydia, but I just couldn’t wait to see Mike again. I just wanted to hug him and thank him for being there for me, so when the door opened, my heart started beating like crazy. ”Hey babe!” Jeff said as he came up the stairs. He obviously noticed my disappointed expression. ”Mike’s parking the car”. 

When Lydia and Jeff eventually left, it had gotten late. ”You wanna order a pizza?” I asked. ”Are you sure? I promised you a home cooked meal” he said, but I could tell he was relieved he didn’t have to cook this late. ”I don’t eat pineapple, other than that, order whatever” I smiled. 

We put on a movie, but I couldn’t concentrate enough to pay attention. ”Can I ask you something?” He looked at me, waiting for my question. ”Do you find me disgusting? Be honest”. He just looked at me like he didn’t understand my question. ”Uhm.. What?” He sat up and paused the movie. ”No, I don’t. Why would you think that?”  
”Beacuse of what happened to me. I mean, I feel disgusting”  
”You’re not. You have no idea how attractive I find you”  
”But… Do you wanna have sex with me? Like, for real?”  
”Yes, of course. I wanna make you feel good. I wanna show you that sex is amazing, that it doesn’t hurt”  
”What if I can’t? What if it doesn’t feel good?”  
”Then we’ll stop. We’ll wait ’til you’re completely comfortable”  
”I don’t even know what that is”  
”It seems like you’re comfortable with sleeping next to me in your t-shirt. Would you be comfortable with sleeping next to me with less?”

Would I? We would just sleep. We talked about it, back and forth. We decided on taking small steps. First step was to be able to sleep next to each other naked. Under the covers, no touching or looking. Next step was to see each other naked. And then, the scary part, touching each other. I was happy he wanted to do this with me, although I was terrified. But I trusted him. It felt good to trust him.


	28. Chapter 28

Mike’s POV  
Since Tibby and I started to experiment with what she was comfortable with and not, we’d grown so much closer. We hadn’t had sex yet, but I was hoping it would be soon. Even though I never ment to rush her, and was totally fine with waiting, she’d turned me on like crazy the last couple of nights. We’d been lying in bed, totally naked in front of each other. We just held each other and cuddled, but I had no chance in trying to stop my bodily reactions. And seeing how excited she found it, made it even more hot for me. 

I was sitting in Jeff’s livingroom playing one of his guitars. He was in the kitchen making us coffee. The girls were at the mall, and I think both me and Jeff were happy they didn’t make us go too. Jeff came over and put a mug in front of me.   
”What are you playing?”  
”Nothing, just messing around with some riffs I came up with”. I put the guitar down and took a sip from my coffee. Jeff shifted in his seat, slightly grunting. I looked at him. ”You okay, man?”. He laughed and nodded. ”Yeah, me and Lydia tried something last night. It was not successful”. I didn’t know if I wanted to know what they tried, but I was more intrigued than I was grossed out. ”What you try?” I laughed. He laughed and shook his head. ”She got this book from a friend at work as a joke, some kamasutra stuff. None of us are even close to being that bendy”. I couldn’t help but laugh. Imagining Jeff doing some weird, bendy Indian sex stuff was kind of comical. 

Tibby’s POV  
I had told Lydia about Mike and I’s plan. She thought it was a good idea to take it slow, and she said she gained so much more respect for Mike. It wasn’t a given that anyone would be as patient as him, and I was so happy that I was who he was. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to do this. 

We were sitting outside in a park eating lunch.  
”How are things with you and Mike? Have you had sex yet?”   
I was a bit surprised by her being so straight forward about it, but at least she wasn’t all over the place.   
”No, not yet. I’m hoping soon, though. The last few nights we’ve just been cuddling, and seeing him react the way he does, turns me on so much. I’m just really scared. The next step is the final step, you know. What if I mess it up?”  
She looked at me. ”Yeah, what if you mess it up? It’s no big deal. If you mess up, you try again. You just gotta do it. I know it’s fucking scary, but the longer you wait, the worse it’s gonna get”. She was absolutely right. All I wanted, was for this stupid anxiety to disappear. I wanted to be able to do what I wanted without feeling ashamed or feeling guilty. And, apparently, according to Lydia, sex wasn’t all that bad. While I was lost in my thoughts, Lydia nudged me. ”Huh?” I asked. Did she say something? ”You wanna have sex, don’t you?” she smiled. I was so busted. ”Kinda” I laughed. ”Let’s go back, then. Before you change your mind again” she said and got up. ”Are you serious?” I laughed and let her pull me up. ”Hell yes. And I want all the dirty details later!”

Mike’s POV  
All of a sudden, Lydia and Tibby came back. Tibby pulled me up and told me we had to go home. ”Why? Something wrong?” I asked. Lydia just laughed. Why? What did I say? ”Take me home, now” Tibby demanded. ”Guess I’ll see you later” I said to Jeff while she pushed me through the front door. 

”What’s up?” I asked her once we were in the car. ”I’m ready” was all she said. ”Ready? For wha.. Oh… OH!” I said surprised once I realised what she was ready for. She was ready for me, and I just couldn’t get home fast enough. My jeans got tighter and tighter and I probably shouldn’t have been driving. I couldn’t even think straight. I just hoped to God Stone and Eddie wasn’t home. 

Tibby’s POV  
My heart was racing. I was nervous, but also really excited. Once we pulled up in front of the house, I just wanted to do him right then and there. ”I hope we’re alone” I mumbled as we walked up to the door. ”If not, at least we’ll get them back for all the times they’ve fucked up agaist your room” Mike laughed. I laughed and kinda hoped they were home. None of us checked to see if we actually were alone, we just marched right into Mike’s room. I looked at him as he closed the door. ”So…” I said. ”So…” he mirrored. ”Are you sure?” he asked. ”I’m sure”.

Mike’s POV  
I just had to ask, I really didn’t want to go to fast. ”Just kiss me” she whispered. I pulled her close and kissed her hungrily while my hands obviously had a life of their own. I felt her hands on me as well. On my shoulders, on my back. On my butt. She stopped and looked at me before she gently put her hand between my legs. I let out a small moan. Both because of the touch but also because my jeans were so goddamn tight. 

She pulled the hem of my shirt and helped me take it off. She pushed me down on the bed and sat on top of my lap. She started kissing my neck while her hands tried to touch every inch of my torso. Suddenly her hand was between my legs again. ”I have to take off my jeans, I’m choking”. 

She smiled and unbuttoned them. She positioned herself on the floor, between my legs and slowly started to pull both my jeans and boxers off. Watching her enjoying this turned me on even more. She got a pretty satisfied look on her face once my erection popped out of my underwear. ”Shit, Mike… ” she smiled weakly. I got kind of embarrassed in a good way and pulled her up. I looked at her to make sure she was okay, then I started to unzip her jeans. She paid close attention to my every move, taking at all in. I pulled her jeans and undies down, and let her step out of them. I got up and pulled her into a kiss before I helped her with her shirt and bra. ”Lie on the bed for me” I whispered to her. She did as she was told and I just enjoyed the sight of her. I started to stroke myself as I crawled back up on the bed. ”That’s my job” Tibby said and gave me an adorable pout. I smiled and stopped. ”Oh, I’m sorry”.

Tibby’s POV  
I never in a million years would have thought I’d be this turned on. Mike didn’t have the most perfect, muscular body or anything, but it was this body that had kept me safe when I had bad dreams. It was this body that had held me when I was cold. It was this body that had been so turned on by me the nights before. And I loved this body so much. To me, it was perfect. I pushed him down on his back and reached for his erection. The sounds he made once I started stroking him were just so sexy. He was hard, but just by my touch he got litteraly stone hard. I bent down and let my tongue slide all the way from the start of his shaft to the tip of his length. ”Oh my god” he panted, and his hips thrusted involuntarily. I tried to hold him still and started to really taste him. Hearing his sounds and tasting him got me so horny, I didn’t even know what to do with myself. ”Babe, you gotta stop. I won’t be able to last very long” Mike laughed as he enjoyed me. 

Mike’s POV  
What she did felt so amazingly good, I didn’t want her to stop. But she had to, I was getting close already. I gently pushed her away and sat up. ”Can I touch you?” I asked. She nodded. I could tell she was scared, so I pulled her into a hug and stroke her back to comfort her. ”I’ll stop the minute you tell me to” I whispered and let my hand slide up against her thigh. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe. I felt her warm skin underneath my hand, she felt good. I moved my hand and put it on her inner thigh and slowly let it run upwards. She spread her legs a little bit, I don’t even think she did it on purpose. Once I reached my destination, I knew she didn’t do it on purpose. She was so warm and so wet, she’s probably agreed to anything at this point. And my goodness, did she turn me on. ”Jesus, Tib” I whispered as I felt her on my hand. I started to gently rub her most sensitive spot and she let out a moan. I took that as a good sign, and kept going. I looked up at her face, and when I saw her expression, I almost came just by looking at her. ”Can I taste you?” I asked. She looked at me. ”If you want to” she said and looked a bit embarrassed. ”Oh, you have no idea how much I want to” I smiled. She got on her back for me and I gave her a soft kiss before I laid down between her legs. I just looked at her for a bit. ”You’re so beautiful, baby” I whispered and let my fingers spread her out completely. I bent forward and gave her a quick lick and watched her carefully to make sure she wasn’t uncomfortable. ”That okay?” She nodded. 

I took my time with her, and I always made sure she was completely comfortable. The taste of her, the feel of her. It was almost too much. 

Tibby’s POV  
I was on the verge of crying. It felt so incredibly good, and I just couldn’t believe I’d missed out on this for so long. Mike knew what he was doing, and as I got closer and closer I lost control over my body. I heard someone moan and scream out in pleasure, and once I calmed down, I realised it was me. As I tried to breathe normally again, Mike laid on top of me and just looked at me. I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.   
”That sounded amazing” he said down to me as his fingers ran through my hair. I was trying to say that it absolutely was just that, but I’d lost my ability to form words. We both laughed at my bad attempt on giving him an answer. He kissed me and held me close. But I wasn’t done yet. I shot my hips up and let him slide inside of me. The feeling was overwhelming, I almost lost my breath. Mike moaned loudly, and I knew it felt good for him too. 

Mike’s POV  
Holy shit, I was so horny at this point. No way I could last longer than a few thrusts. ”I’m so close” I moaned out to her. She smiled and kissed me. ”I want you to cum for me” she whispered. Hearing her say those words, seeing her in so much pleasure, feeling her around me… It all pushed me off the edge. I screamed out and moaned as I felt the climax rush through my body. 

We made out for what seemed an internity. We just held each other and felt each other’s bodies against the other. ”How are you feeling?” I asked her. ”I don’t even know… I’ve never felt anything like that before, it felt incredible. Thank you for being so patient with me”  
”Well, it was worth the wait. You’re worth the wait. If you’ll let me, I’m gonna try to make you feel just as good anytime you want”  
She smiled and kissed me. I was so happy that I met her, and I promised myself I’d spend the rest of my life trying to make her feel just as happy as me.


End file.
